1 TO: City Council
FROM: Andrew Vialpando, City Manager
PREPARED BY: Adrian Fernandez, Community and Economic Development Director
MEETING DATE: December 17, 2024
SUBJECT: Discussion and Consideration of Zoning Text Amendment No. 2024-07 Updating the Lomita Municipal Code Regarding
Definitions, Residential Land Uses and Residential Development Standards for In-House Cleanup
RECOMMENDATION
1. Open the public hearing, receive public testimony, close the public hearing, waive full reading, and by motion adopt Urgency Ordinance No. 867U and introduce on first reading Ordinance No. 868; and
2. Direct staff to schedule the second reading and possible adoption of Ordinance No. 868 at the January 21, 2025, Regular City Council meeting.
BACKGROUND
On October 15, 2024, the City Council adopted Phase I of the zoning code update related to the City’s recently adopted General Plan Update. Phase I included code updates to implement the policies and programs of the 2021-2029 Housing Element. Some of these changes included rezoning as well as allowing residential/commercial mixed use in commercial corridors. In the spring of 2025, the Planning Commission and City Council will have the opportunity to consider Phase II of the comprehensive zoning code update.
This will include objective design standards, lot consolidation incentives and other amendments to fully implement the goals, policies and actions in the General Plan.
The attached ordinance follows up on Phase I and proposes revisions to the permitted use table and development standards mostly to provide clarity and remove unnecessary footnotes or standards that are already covered in other sections. Among the changes is an amendment to restore the floor area ratio (FAR) and lot coverage standards to the residential development standards which had been inadvertently removed prior to the adoption of Phase I. Both FAR for A-1 and R-1 zones and lot coverage for R-2 and R-3
CITY OF LOMITA
CITY COUNCIL REPORT
Item No.
{{section.number}}a
2 zones have been added back to the residential development standards in the proposed ordinance.
As garages are now optional for residential development because the two required parking spaces for single-family residential do not need to be enclosed or covered, existing and new garages are frequently converted into ADUs. This ordinance updates the code to require garages to maintain a three-foot setback from the rear property line where no setback was previously required. This change makes the code consistent with the City’s building code, which requires a three-foot setback from property lines for habitable buildings with windows facing the property line, if garages are converted into ADUs.
On December 3, 2024, the City Council held a public hearing on a prior version of this proposed ordinance which included code updates designed to facilitate the provision of additional parking spaces on residential lots. Based on feedback from the City Council, these parking-related code updates have been removed from the draft ordinance. Staff will address parking issues at a future date through a more holistic approach on general parking provisions.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
This ordinance is not subject to CEQA pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Sections 15060(c)(2) (the activity will not result in a direct or reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment) and 15060(c)(3) (the activity is not a project as defined in Section 15378) because it has no potential for resulting in physical change to the environment, directly or indirectly. The proposed zoning code amendment does not directly approve any development. It will result in updates to definitions, residential land uses and residential development standards. Specific projects will be analyzed for environmental impact when they are proposed. The ordinance is also not a project as defined in Section 15378 and will not result in a direct or reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment. Land use and/or development applications that will be subject to these new standards will be individually evaluated for potential environmental impacts at the time the applications are being processed. Furthermore, the adoption of the ordinance is exempt from CEQA because it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that the activity in question may have a significant effect on the environment (State CEQA Guidelines, § 15061(b)(3).)
PUBLIC NOTICE
Notice of this hearing dated November 21, 2024, was published in The Daily Breeze Newspaper and posted at City Hall and Lomita Park.
FISCAL IMPACT
There are no financial implications resulting from this recommendation. 3 OPTIONS
1. Approve the attached ordinance.
2. Do not approve the ordinance.
3. Provide staff with further direction.
ATTACHMENTS
1. Urgency Ordinance No. 867U
Exhibit A: Zoning Text Amendment
2. Ordinance No. 868
Exhibit A: Zoning Text Amendment
3. Redlined Zoning Text Amendment
Reviewed by: Approved by:
_______________________ ______________________
Gary Y. Sugano Andrew Vialpando
Assistant City Manager City Manager
Prepared by:
.
__________________________
Adrian Fernandez, Community and Economic Development Director