1 TO: City Council
FROM: Ryan Smoot, City Manager
PREPARED BY: Brianna Rindge, Community & Economic Development Director MEETING DATE: January 17, 2023
SUBJECT: Second Reading and Adoption of Ordinance No. 844 for Zoning Text Amendment No. 2022-02 Amending Lomita Municipal Code Section 11-1.27.12 to Modify Sign Regulations of the 24000 Crenshaw Boulevard Specific Plan Zone
RECOMMENDATION
Adopt Ordinance.
BACKGROUND
On December 20, 2022, the City Council introduced on first reading an ordinance amending Lomita Municipal Code Section 11-1.27.12 to modify sign regulations of the 24000 Crenshaw Boulevard Specific Plan Zone and finding the project is categorically exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act. This agenda item is to approve the second reading and adoption of the ordinance.
OPTIONS:
1. Approve the attached ordinance.
2. Do not approve the ordinance.
3. Provide staff with further direction.
FISCAL IMPACT
None.
ATTACHMENTS
1. Ordinance No. 844
Item No. 7l
CITY OF LOMITA
CITY COUNCIL REPORT
2 Reviewed by: Approved by:
Gary Y. Sugano Ryan Smoot
Assistant City Manager City Manager
Prepared by:
________________
Brianna Rindge
Community & Economic Development Director
ORDINANCE NO. 844
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF LOMITA, CALIFORNIA, APPROVING ZONE TEXT AMENDMENT 2022-02
AMENDING LOMITA MUNICIPAL CODE SECTION 11-1.27.12,
MODIFYING SIGN REGULATIONS FOR THE 24000 CRENSHAW
BOULEVARD SPECIFIC PLAN ZONE AND A DETERMINATION THAT
THE PROJECT IS CATEGORICALLY EXEMPT FROM THE CALIFORNIA ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY ACT (CEQA).
THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF LOMITA HEREBY ORDAINS AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. Recitals
A. On November 14, 2022, the Planning Commission held a duly noticed public hearing on Zone Text Amendment No. 2022-02 (initiated by Picerne Group), where public testimony was accepted on the item and after deliberations the Planning Commission made a recommendation that the City Council approve the requested Zone Text Amendment.
B. On December 20, 2022, the City Council considered Zone Text Amendment No. 2022-02 to amend Lomita’s Municipal Code Section 11-1.27.12 to modify sign regulations in the 24000 Crenshaw Boulevard Specific Plan Zone, held a duly noticed public hearing and accepted testimony in regard to the same.
Section 2. Findings
The City Council finds that the ordinance is consistent with the General Plan because it implements the Land Use Element’s first goal is to promote an orderly pattern of development in the city. The City’s multi-family sign standards were crafted for smaller multi-family buildings. The proposed sign standards follow an existing pattern of allowing signs’ sizes and quantities to be adjusted to fit the size of a development and/or the type of use and/or zoning district. In addition, Housing Policy 6 states, “the City will promote and encourage the use of flexible and innovative technique of site and housing design with the framework of the Zoning Ordinance.” The Specific Plan and the resulting design of the building is an example of the City’s encouragement of this policy. The building’s signage is an extension of that process and a finishing touch of the site and building design.
The City Council also finds the proposed changes will preserve, protect, provide for, and foster the health, safety, and welfare of the citizenry in general and the persons who work, visit, or live in this development in particular.
Attachment No. 1
Ordinance No. 844
Section 3. Environmental Review
The adoption of the Zone Text Amendment is exempt from CEQA pursuant to section 15060(c)(2) in that the whole of the code amendment is exempt, because the code amendment is an administrative activity which will not result in a direct or reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change to the environment. Under section 15060(c)(3), the whole of the whole of the code amendment is exempt because the code amendment is not a “project” as defined by section 15378, since it has no potential for resulting in a direct or indirect physical change to the environment.
Further, section 15061(b)(3) (Review for Exemption: Common Sense) of the CEQA Guidelines exempts projects that can be seen with certainty to have no possibility of having a significant effect on the environment. The adoption of the Zone Text Amendment is limited to identifying and informational sign standards.
The standards include provisions to ensure that the signs are installed in a safe manner and due to the limited proposed increase in size and number, the proposed amendment will not affect the environment or have any impact on visual resources.
Finally, the adoption of the Zone Text Amendment is further exempt from CEQA as a minor alteration in land use limitations, as it would not change allowable land uses or density, and only serves to regulate the use of signage in this particular area of the City. (CEQA Guidelines § 15305.)
Section 4. Zoning Amendment
Based on the foregoing, the City Council hereby approved of the following amendments to the Lomita Municipal Code:
A. Section 11-1.27.12 (D)(1)(b) of Title XI of the Lomita Municipal Code is amended to read as follows:
“(b) The total quantity of all signs shall not to exceed five (5) signs.
1. Monument sign.
i. One sign shall be allowed to identify the building, so long as it does not interfere with or obstruct the visibility of pedestrians and vehicular traffic.
ii. The maximum height shall be six (6) feet from the lowest finished grade.
iii. The area for each face shall be counted separately. iv. The sign shall be setback at least two (2) feet from the property line.
v. The sign may be externally illuminated, in accordance with subsection (7).
Ordinance No. 844
2. Wall sign.
i. No more than four (4) wall signs shall be allowed to identify the building.
ii. A singular sign shall not exceed one-half (0.5) a square foot for each dwelling unit located on the lot or parcel.
iii. All signs shall be mounted flush against the wall of the building and shall not project above the parapet wall.
iv. The sign may be externally illuminated, in accordance with subsection (7).”
B. Sec. 11-1.27.12(F)(4) of the Lomita Municipal Code is amended to read as follows:
“4. Real estate sign.
a. The type of sign may be either a wall or a monument sign. b. One sign shall be allowed per frontage and the maximum size shall be no more than fifteen (15) square feet per face. c. Real estate signs shall be removed with fifteen (15) days after such property is no longer for sale, lease, or exchange.” Section 5.
If any section, subsection, subdivision, paragraph, sentence, clause or phrase of this ordinance or any part hereof is for any reason held to be invalid, such invalidity shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this ordinance or any part thereof. The City Council of the City of Lomita hereby declares that it would have passed each section, subsection, subdivision, paragraph, sentence, clause or phrase hereof, irrespective of the fact that any one or more sections, subsections, subdivisions, paragraphs, sentences, clauses or phrases be declared invalid.
Section 6. Effective Date.
This ordinance shall take effect thirty (30) days after the date of its passage; and prior to fifteen (15) days after its passage, the City Clerk shall cause a copy of this ordinance to be published in accordance with the provisions of the law. The City Clerk shall certify the adoption of this ordinance.
PASSED, APPROVED AND ADOPTED this 17th day of January 2023.
Ordinance No. 844
____________________________
Barry Waite
Mayor
ATTEST:
Kathleen Horn Gregory, MMC, City Clerk
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
Trevor Rusin, City Attorney