TO: Fort Bragg City Council DATE: March 24, 2025 DEPARTMENT: Community Development Department
PREPARED BY: Marie Jones Consulting
PRESENTER: Marie Jones
AGENDA TITLE: Receive a Report, Hold a Public Hearing and Consider Adopting Ordinances of the Fort Bragg City Council:
Amending Division 17 of the Fort Bragg Municipal Code (LCP 1-25) to Amend Chapter 17.36 “Parking And Loading” to 1) Modify Minimum Parking Requirements for Multifamily Housing, 2) Amend the Parking Regulation of the CLUDC to Match the Changes that have Already been Approved for the ILUDC; and 3) Address Inconsistencies in Landscaping Requirements for Parking Lots.
Amending Division 18 of the Fort Bragg Municipal Code (ILUDC 1-25) to Amend Chapter 18.36 “Parking And Loading” to 1) Modify Minimum Parking Requirements for Multifamily Housing, and 2) Address Inconsistencies in Landscaping Requirements for Parking Lots.
City Council Action
Adopt an Ordinance Amending Division 17 of the Fort Bragg Municipal Code (LCP 1-25) to Amend Chapter 17.36 “Parking And Loading” to 1) Modify Minimum Parking Requirements for Multifamily Housing, 2) Amend the Parking Regulation of the CLUDC to Match the Changes that have Already been Approved for the ILUDC; and 3) Address Inconsistencies in Landscaping Requirements for Parking Lots.
Adopt an Ordinance Amending Division 18 of the Fort Bragg Municipal Code (ILUDC 1-25) to Amend Chapter 18.36 “Parking And Loading” to 1) Modify Minimum Parking Requirements for Multifamily Housing, and 2) Address Inconsistencies in Landscaping Requirements for Parking Lots.
Provide direction regarding whether or not the City should proceed with eliminating the Use Permit requirement for multifamily housing projects.
BACKGROUND
Increasing the housing supply is a key priority for the City Council, as outlined in the 2024-2028 Strategic Plan, which includes the goal of adding 200+ housing units by 2026. Housing affordability has become a significant challenge, with many residents finding it increasingly difficult to purchase and/or rent a home. The community faces a shortage of both rental and for-sale properties, driven in part by Fort Bragg’s growing appeal as a place to live, retire, and work.
The City Council directed City Staff to pursue HCD’s Pro-Housing Designation, which includes incentives for jurisdictions that are compliant with State Housing Element Law and that have enacted Pro-Housing Policies. The State’s Pro-Housing designation is awarded to cities that implement enough pro-housing initiatives to secure thirty points.
On January 31st and February 12th the Fort Bragg Planning Commission held public hearing to discuss the elimination of the minimum parking requirement for new housing development. At the January 31st public hearing the Planning Commission directed staff to continue the public hearing to February 12th and return with a revised ordinance recommending that the City Council to eliminate parking requirements. At the February 12th hearing the Planning Commission instead voted to recommend that the City Council revise parking requirements so that they comply with the minimum requirements of State Density Bonus law which would still enable the City to receive the maximum pro-housing points for this item. These requirement are discussed later in this staff report.
Additionally, MJC reviewed the pro-housing initiatives based on feedback from Commissioners that they were uncomfortable with the idea of making multifamily permitted by right. Through this review, MJC determined that the City has already achieved 26 of the required 30 points, in part due to the City’s recent contract with 4Leaf to review Building Permits. This has allowed the City to be eligible for additional Pro-Housing criteria (3 points), see Table 1 below.
Table 1 - Recently Acquired Pro-Housing Points.
2D
Establishment of permitting processes that take less than four months to complete. Policies under this category must address all approvals necessary to issue building permits. (Now possible with 4leaf building permit review) 2 2I
Establishment of one-stop-shop permitting processes or a single point of contact where entitlements are coordinated across the city approval functions (e.g., planning, public works, building) from entitlement application to certificate of occupancy. (Now possible with 4leaf building permit review) 1 Table 2 illustrates one additional easy to achieve Pro-Housing points:
Table 2 - Potential Pro-Housing Points.
2L
Documented practice of publicly posting status updates on project permit approvals on the internet. 1 The new policy options in Table 1 bring the City’s total pro-housing eligible points to 26 from the previous 23 points.
If the policy option from Table 2 is implemented, it would bring the City’s total to 27 points.
Finally with the adoption of the new parking standards and design review via objective standards, the City would achieve the required 30 points.
The Planning Commission recommends that the City Council not pursue 2A (ministerial process for multifamily and mixed-use housing). The Planning Commission is supportive of pursuing 2H (replacing subjective design standards with objective standards).
The City Council had previously provided direction to pursue IF, 2A and 2H below. 1F. Reduce minimum parking requirements for residential development. (2 points) 2A. Establish a ministerial approval process for multifamily and mixed-use housing. (3 points) 2H. Replace subjective development and design standards with objective development and design standards that simplify zoning clearance and improve approval certainty and timing. (1 point) 3A. Waive or reduce development impact fees for residential projects that include units affordable to Lower-Income Households. (3 points)
DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS
This report provides recommendations for how the City Council can achieve the Planning Commission’s stated goal of retaining minimum parking requirements and updating the remainder of the parking code, without eliminating parking requirements all together.
Use Density Bonus Law Parking Requirements for Two Pro-Housing Points.
The Prohousing documentation allows the City to apply State parking requirements per Density Bonus Law to all housing projects and obtain the 2 points. As all new housing developments of more than 7 units within the City are already required to include inclusionary housing and are therefore eligible for a Density Bonus and this State minimum parking requirement, adoption of this approach would logistically only impact smaller housing developments of less than seven units.
The table below illustrates the parking requirements of the ILUDC and Density Bonus Law.
Density Bonus Law
All projects of more than 7 units
ILUDC Parking Requirements
Bedrooms
Required Parking Spaces
Bedrooms
Required Parking Spaces
0-1 BR
1 space/unit
0-1 BR
1 space/unit
2-3 BR
1.5 spaces/unit
2-3 BR
2 spaces/unit
4+ BR
2.5 spaces/unit
4+ BR
2 spaces/unit
Since the City’s zoning code already requires all projects of more than 7 units to include inclusionary housing the actual impact of this approach is minor as it would only impact projects of less than 7 units. The table below illustrates the difference between a hypothetical 6-unit project using both approaches:
The attached draft ordinances have incorporated the density bonus law parking minimum approach as recommended by the Planning Commission.
Alternatively, the City Council can proceed with eliminating all parking requirements for multi-family housing projects as originally directed. MJC does not recommend this approach given the significant community concern about the complete elimination of parking requirements, the lack of a robust transit system in Fort Bragg, and given that adopting the State’s Density Bonus Law parking requirements would afford the City the same number of Pro-Housing points.
Seek alternative Pro-Housing policy options to achieve the required 30 points.
Planning Commission wants to encourage the City Council not to eliminate the Use Permit process for Multi-Family projects. There are many good reasons to retain the Use Permit process for multifamily projects, as follows:
The public hearing allows neighbors to express concerns that can be addressed through special conditions and ease conflict between new housing and the neighborhood.
The permitting process requires City Staff to refer projects to public agencies for comments, which also improves the project and reduces impacts on the environment.
The permitting process supports staff time to do a complicated analysis of project conformance with the City’s zoning ordinance and general plan. If a project is permitted by right, there is no mechanism for the City to be reimbursed for this time. Given recent experience with the two large projects going through the permitting process now this is a significant amount of time.
The public hearing allows the applicant to urge the Planning Commission to reconsider or change a special condition if it is too onerous or infeasible.
The planning Commission urges City Council to seek additional Pro-Housing points as follows:
2D. Establishment of permitting processes that take less than four months to complete. Policies under this category must address all approvals necessary to issue building permits. (Newly Achieved!) 2 points; 2I. Establishment of one-stop-shop permitting processes or a single point of contact where entitlements are coordinated across the city approval functions (e.g., planning, public works, building) from entitlement application to certificate of occupancy. (Newly Achieved) 1 point; and 2L. Documented practice of publicly posting status updates on project permit approvals on the internet. 1 Point. 2H. Replace subjective development and design standards with objective development and design standards to simplify zoning clearance and improve approval certainty and timing. (1 point)
FISCAL IMPACT/FUNDING SOURCE
This proposed zoning amendment will be funded by American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Funding. The proposed changes to parking regulations will have no fiscal impact on the City.
ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS
Greenhouse Gas Emissions Impact. Encouraging densification and more housing development within existing cities is a smart growth strategy that results in reduced miles traveled and thereby reduces greenhouse gas emissions. Additionally, reducing the overall availability of parking will encourage people to drive or walk for shorter trips, which will improve health outcomes and reduce GHG emissions.
CEQA Exemption. Pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15061(b3), this project is exempt from CEQA if: “The activity is covered by the commonsense exemption that CEQA applies only to projects which have the potential for causing a significant effect on the environment. Where it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that the activity in question may have a significant effect on the environment, the activity is not subject to CEQA.” The California Environmental Quality Act no longer considers the availability of parking an environmental impact.
The elimination of the minimum parking requirement for housing projects will reduce the overall parking lot development footprint which would have a positive impact on the environment (less disturbance, less impervious surfaces, fewer impacts).
Reducing parking requirements to allow projects to achieve the maximum allowable density will not have a significant new impact on the environment, because the maximum development density for each zoning district has already been considered and mitigated in the EIR for the adoption of the Land Use and Development Code in 2004.
The proposed changes will result in more pedestrian and bicycle trips as a percentage of all trips which will reduce GHG emissions.
The project would not have an impact on stormwater other than to further reduce stormwater flows from the site by replacing impervious areas with pervious areas.
The City Council can find that the proposed amendment is exempt from CEQA under the commonsense exemption.
STRATEGIC PLAN/COUNCIL PRIORITIES/GENERAL PLAN CONSISTENCY The proposed ordinances have been reviewed for consistency with the City’s General Plans and zoning codes, and no inconsistencies have been identified.
IMPLEMENTATION/TIMEFRAMES
Two months for ILUDC changes and 12 months for CLUDC zoning changes.
COMMITTEE REVIEW AND RECOMMENDATIONS
On October 15, 2024, the City Council directed staff to obtain Pro-Housing designation from the State and increase zoning flexibility for Housing Project.
ALERNATIVES
Discuss and provide input regarding alternative regulatory approaches or language in the proposed ordinances.
ATTACHMENTS
Pro-Housing Check List
An Ordinance of the City Council Amending Division 17 of the Fort Bragg Municipal Code (LCP 1-25) to Amend Chapter 17.36 “Parking And Loading” of Division 17 of the Fort Bragg Municipal Code to: 1) Modify Minimum Parking Requirements for Residential Uses; and 2) Amend the Parking Regulation of The CLUDC to Match the Changes that have Already been Approved for the ILUDC by the City Council; and 2) Address Inconsistencies in Landscaping Requirements for Parking Lots.
An Ordinance of the City Council Amending Division 18 of the Fort Bragg Municipal Code (ILUDC 1-25) to Amend Chapter 18.36 “Parking And Loading” of Division 18 of the Fort Bragg Municipal Code to: 1) Modify Minimum Parking Requirements for Residential Uses; and 2) Address Inconsistencies in Landscaping Requirements for Parking Lots.
Planning Commission Recommendation Resolution.
NOTIFICATION
“Notify Me” lists for Housing, Economic Development, Central Business District
AGENDA ITEM NO. 6A
City Council STAFF REPORT