10-DAY REPORT OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FONTANA ON URGENCY ORDINANCE NO. 1924 PROHIBITING THE APPROVAL OF ANY BUILDING PERMIT, OCCUPANCY PERMIT, CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT, VARIANCE, SUBDIVISION MAP, DESIGN REVIEW, ADMINISTRATIVE SITE PLAN REVIEW OR OTHER LAND USE ENTITLEMENT OR PERMIT, OR REGULATORY LICENSE OR PERMIT REQUIRED TO COMPLY WITH THE PROVISIONS OF THE MUNICIPAL CODE OR SPECIFIC PLAN FOR SERVICE BASED, NON-ENTERTAINMENT USES Introduction
On July 25, 2023, the City Council of the City of Fontana enacted Ordinance No. 1922, an Ordinance temporarily prohibiting the issuance or approval of any building permit, occupancy permit, conditional use permit, variance, subdivision map, design review, administrative site plan review or other land use entitlement or permit or regulatory license or permit required to comply with the provisions of the municipal code or specific plan for “Service based, Non-Entertainment uses.” Pursuant to Government Code Section 65858, the Ordinance remained in effect for forty-five (45) days, and was able to be extended by the City Council for an additional ten (10) months and fifteen (15) days.
Thereafter, on September 5, 2023, the City Council of the City of Fontana enacted Ordinance No. 1924, a ten (10) month and fifteen (15) day extension of the initial moratorium, which went into effect on September 8, 2023 and expires on July 23, 2024.
In accordance with the provisions of Government Code Section 65858(d), ten (10) days prior to the expiration of the operative Ordinance, the City Council must issue a written report describing the measures taken to alleviate the condition which led to the adoption of the ordinance.
Background on the Adoption of the Ordinance
In support of the Ordinance, the City Council made the following findings:
The City of Fontana, California (“City”) is a municipal corporation, duly organized under the constitution and laws of the State of California.
Government Code Section 65300, et seq. allows a city to adopt a General Plan to designate its long-term goals and policies related to its respective community and future development of the city.
On November 13, 2018, the City adopted its most recent General Plan, detailing the City’s goals and objectives over the next twenty (20) years. The General Plan generally emphasizes the City’s desire to encourage economic growth.
Chapter 14 of the General Plan establishes the City’s intent to make its downtown a local and regional destination hub for dining, shopping and entertainment.
The City has identified Foothill Boulevard and Sierra Avenue to be primary corridors that funnel local and regional visitors to its downtown, thereby promoting the economic growth of the City.
The City observes that the Sierra Avenue corridor extends from the I-10 Freeway and Arrow Boulevard, and between Foothill Boulevard and the I-210 Freeway and the Foothill Boulevard corridor extends from the Cherry Avenue to Maple Avenue.
The City desires to create a balanced environment within its corridors to foster a similar vision to that of the downtown area.
To the extent that the land in the Sierra Avenue and Fontana Boulevard corridors are underutilized, underperforming, or inconsistent with the development goals of the City’s General Plan, the City has a responsibility to continue studying potential zoning and use changes in the downtown area necessary to further General Plan policies related to the development of the economic corridors in order to maintain the City’s vibrancy and drive economic growth, particularly in the City’s downtown area.
Without the enactment of the original ordinance (Ordinance No. 1922), multiple applicants could have quickly received entitlements that would have allowed for uses contrary to the City’s General Plan, subjecting the City to potential effects and impacts of uncoordinated and conflicting uses, impacts on parking availability in the downtown area of the City, aesthetic impacts to the City, and other similar or related effects on property values and the quality of life in the City’s neighborhoods and effectively creating a current and immediate threat to the public health, safety, and welfare, and the enactment of the second ordinance (Ordinance No. 1924) and this Ordinance will continue to be necessary to avoid the aforementioned imminent threats to the public safety, health and welfare.
The City has, and will continue to, study zone changes prohibiting certain service-related uses along two of its main thoroughfares, including in the downtown area, in an effort to maximize economic development, sales tax generation and encourage entertainment-related development along those corridors.
Government Code Section 65858 authorizes the City to adopt an interim urgency ordinance to protect the public safety, health and welfare and to prohibit uses which may be in conflict with a contemplated General Plan or zoning proposal which the city is considering, studying or intends to study within a reasonable time.
III. Measures Taken Since the Adoption of the Ordinance and the 10 Month 15 Day Extension As the City Council’s findings demonstrate, the Ordinance was enacted in response to the City’s desire to promote the General Plan policies and create an environment within the Sierra Avenue and Foothill Boulevard corridors that is balanced with the City’s downtown area plan to make the downtown a local and regional destination hub for dining, shopping, and entertainment.
To alleviate the condition that led to the adoption of the Ordinance, the City has taken the following steps:
City staff has engaged a third-party consultant, Kosmont Companies (“Kosmont”), to assist with research into comprehensive zoning regulations for the Sierra Avenue and Foothill Boulevard corridors that align with the City’s downtown area plan, including to attract high value commercial and mixed-use development.
In conjunction with engaging Kosmont, City staff has and continues to research examples of compatible dining, shopping and entertainment land uses that align with the goals and objectives of the General Plan to prepare zoning code amendments to meet the same.
City staff continues to research particular zoning regulations regarding service based, non-entertainment uses to implement at the conclusion of the Ordinance.
On June 18, 2024, at a special meeting of the City Council, Kosmont held a Workshop presentation of its economic analysis of the Foothill Boulevard and Sierra Avenue Corridors, including areas in the City’s downtown currently subject to the mortarium on the issuance of entitlements and approvals. While the study identified revenue, demographic and corridors challenges, among other things, neither Kosmont nor City staff have concluded their research regarding potential zoning regulation changes (which include potential changes in permitted uses in the City’s downtown) and, thus, have not yet made any final recommendations regarding the zoning and regulatory standards for the Sierra Avenue and Foothill Boulevard corridors as related to the City’s downtown plan. For this reason, the current, immediate threat to the public safety, health and welfare that caused the City Council to adopt the prior ordinances remains, and it is appropriate for the City Council to extend the Ordinance for an additional period of one year as authorized by Government Code Section 65858, to permit City staff to complete its research, make recommendations, and allow the City Council to consider and adopt such regulations as it deems appropriate.