ORDINANCE NO. 02-21-B
SECOND EXTENSION OF A REVISED URGENCY
ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE
CITY OF ORANGE PROHIBITING THE ADDITION
OF THREE OR MORE BEDROOMS OR THREE OR
MORE BATHROOMS TO A PRIMARY RESIDENCE
USE ON LOTS LESS THAN 12,000 SQUARE FEET,
AND ADDING DEFINITIONS OF DORMITORY
AND STUDENT HOUSING.
WHEREAS, Section 65858(a) of the California Government Code auth orizes the City Council to adopt, as an urgency measure, an interim ordinance prohibiting any uses which may be in conflict with a contemplated zoning proposal which the City Council, planning commission or planning department is studying to protect the public health, safety and welfare; and
WHEREAS, the City in general, and the neighborhoods in proximity to Chapman University in particular, have been experiencing a surge of construction activity and new applications for additions to and/or interior renovations to single -family dwellings (primary residences) in which numerous bedrooms and bathrooms are being added, many with exterior doors and wet bars in each bedroom, in some cases transforming two or three bedroom homes into seven or eight bedroom and bathroom structures; and
WHEREAS, the mansionization of former single -family dwellings has in many cases been promoted as “student housing properties,” with the goal of “creating a student housing assemblage” on specific streets; and
WHEREAS, the Orange Municipal Code (OMC) does not currently contain a definition for such uses as dormitory or student housing, and adding such definitions will (1) provide clarity for the categorization of renovations to primary residences as opposed to the creation of uses such as dormitories or student housing and (2) help differentiate the characteristics of single - family homes from dormitories and student housing uses; and
WHEREAS, those mansionized single -family dwellings already constructed have caused numerous deleterious effects on the families residing nearby, including parking on front lawns, illegal street parking, unsafe vehicle speed demonstrations, trampled landscaping, loud music, unruly parties, congregation of crowds from outside the neighborhoods in the front yards over and above the number of occupant s, confrontational interactions with neighbors, public drinking, late night disturbances, litter including bottles and cups visible to the neighborhood, overflowing trash cans, police responses to resident complaints, party call prosecutions, and what has been described by neighbors as a “fraternity” atmosphere, all of which effects constitute a public nuisance to the community; and
WHEREAS, on February 16, 2021, the City Council adopted urgency Ordinance No. 02-21, prohibiting the addition of three or more bedrooms or three or more bathrooms to a Ord. No. 02-21-B 2 MEB
primary residence use on lots less than 12,000 square feet, and adding definitions of dormitory, primary residence and student housing, and revising definitions of bedroom and boarding house, which Ordinance was effective for forty-five days, until April 2, 2021; and
WHEREAS, pursuant to Government Code Section 65858(a), on March 23, 2021, after notice as required by law and a public hearing, the City Council extended urgency Ordinance No. 02-21, as revised, for ten months and fifteen days, until February 15, 2022 (Ordinance No. 02-21-A); and
WHEREAS, on April 13, 2021, the City Council adopted Ordinance No. 03 -21, that added permanent definitions of Primary Residence and Bedroom among other provisions, which Ordinance became effective on May 13, 2021 . Said definitions are no longer necessary in the urgency Ordinance; and
WHEREAS, pursuant to Government Code Section 65858( a), after notice and a public hearing as required by law, the City Council may, by not less than a four-fifths vote, extend the urgency Ordinance for an additional one year; and
WHEREAS, extension of urgency Ordinance No. 02-21-A, as amended, will extend the prohibition on the addition of three or more bedrooms or three or more bathrooms to a primary residence use on lots less than 12,000 square feet for an additional one year and will extend the addition of definitions of dormitory and student housing; and
WHEREAS, notice of the hearing on the extension of urgency Ordinance No. 02 -21-A was published in a newspaper of general circulation in accordance with Government Code Section 65090; and
WHEREAS, a public hearing was held on February 8, 2022 , to consider extension of urgency Ordinance No. 02-21-A, for one year, until February 15, 2023; and
WHEREAS, the City is continuing to review and study the development standards contained in its Zoning Code to examine under what circumstances and to what extent single - family dwellings constituting a primary dwelling use may be expanded in the number of bedrooms and number of bathrooms, along with other remodeling development standards; and
WHEREAS, the City is continuing to study the required procedure for evaluating applications for the expansion of single-family dwellings to determine the proper level of review required to protect the peace, health, safety and welfare of the neighborhood and the public at large and mitigate the specific adverse impacts stated herein; and
WHEREAS, the City is continuing to study the definitions of dormitory, student housing and boarding house, to achieve a fair balance between accommodation of property owners’ rights and the negative effects of a concentration of students occupying dwellings in single -family residential neighborhoods; and
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WHEREAS, the City is also studying the effect of SB 9, that allows lot splits and second units in single -family residential neighborhoods, on the mansionization trends observed in the City; and
WHEREAS, the City Council finds:
1. That there continues to be a current and immediate threat to the public peace, health, safety and welfare; and
2. That the approval of additional building permits or any other applicable entitlement allowing the addition of t hree or more bedrooms or three or more bathrooms to a single-family dwelling that is a primary residence use on a lot less than 12,000 square feet as required by the current Zoning Code would have specific adverse impacts upon the public peace, health, safety or welfare; and
3. That the addition to Orange Municipal Code Chapter 17.04 of the following definitions is necessary to preserve the public peace, health, safety and welfare:
DORMITORY, See also STUDENT HOUSING – A structure used for group accommodations, containing a number of private or semiprivate bedrooms with or without a private bathroom, usually with common recreation and kitchen areas, primarily advertised to and exclusively occupied by students of an educational facility. A dormito ry may be owned or operated by a university, college, or private owner.
STUDENT HOUSING, See also DORMITORY -- A structure designed, primarily advertised to and exclusively used for long-term stay by students of an educational facility for sleeping accommodations. This includes a dormitory or fraternity/sorority house or apartment. Student housing may be owned or operated by a university, college, or private owner.
4. That extension of urgency Ordinance No. 02-21-A, as amended, is necessary to mitigate and avoid the specific adverse impacts stated herein; and
5. That there is no feasible alternative to satisfactorily mitigate or avoid the specific, adverse impacts stated herein as well or better, with a less burdensome or restrictive effect, than extension of urgency Ordinance No. 02-21-A, as amended; and
WHEREAS, the City Council determines, by no less than a four-fifths vote, that extension of this urgency Ordinance, as amended, until February 15, 202 3, is a matter of Citywide importance and is necessary for the immediate preservation and protection of the public health, safety or welfare of the community.
NOW THEREFORE, the City Council of the City of Orange hereby ordains as follows:
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SECTION I:
The recitals and findings contained herein are true and correct, incorporated herein, and with the public record, form the basis for the second extension of this urgency Ordinance.
SECTION II:
The City shall not approve any building permits or any other applicable entitlement allowing the addition of three or more bedrooms or three or more bathrooms to a primary residence use on a lot less than 12,000 square feet, as required by the current Zoning Code.
SECTION III:
Chapter 17.04 of the Orange Municipal Code shall be revised to add the definitions of dormitory and student housing as set forth in the findings, above.
SECTION IV:
The subject urgency Ordinance is exempt from the provisions of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) per State CEQA Guidelines 15060(c)(2), 15060(c)(3) and 15061(b)(3) because it will not result in a direct or reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment, because there is no possibility it will have a significant effect on the environment, and it is not a "project", as defined in Section 15378 of the State CEQA Guidelines.
In the unlikely event the urgency Ordinance would constitute a project under CEQA, it is exempt from the provisions of CEQA per State CEQA Guideline 15321 (Class 21, Enforcement Actions by Regulatory Agencies) because it is an action taken by the City as a regulatory agency, as authorized by local ordinance, to prevent the issuance of permits for the addition of three or more bedrooms or bathrooms to a singl e-family dwelling in order to prevent a public nuisance. As such, no further analysis is warranted or required.
SECTION V:
This urgency Ordinance is intended to immediately supersede any existing provisions of the Orange Municipal Code to the extent tho se existing provisions are inconsistent with this urgency Ordinance.
SECTION VI:
If any section, subdivision, paragraph, sentence, clause or phrase of th is urgency Ordinance is for any reason held to be invalid or unconstitutional, such decision shall not affect the validity o f the remaining portions of this urgency Ordinance. The City Council hereby declares that it would have passed this urgency Ordinance, and each section, subdivision, paragraph, sentence, clause and phrase thereof, irrespective of the fact that any one (or more) section, subdivision, paragraph, sentence, clause or phrase had been declared invalid or unconstitutional.
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SECTION VII:
In accordance with Government Code 65858, urgency Ordinance No. 02-21-B shall remain in effect for an additional one year, until February 15, 2023, in order to protect the public peace, health, safety and welfare of the community unless otherwise repealed.
APPROVED this ____ day of ________________, 2022.
_____________________________________
Mark A. Murphy, Mayor, City of Orange
ATTEST:
________________________________________
Pamela Coleman, City Clerk, City of Orange
STATE OF CALIFORNIA )
COUNTY OF ORANGE )
CITY OF ORANGE )
I, PAMELA COLEMAN, City Clerk of the City of Orange, California, do hereby certify that the foregoing Ordin ance was adopted as an urgency Ordinance at a special meeting of the City Council held on the 16th day of February, 2021, and thereafter was extended for ten months and fifteen days at a regular adjourned meeting of said C ity Council held on the 23rd day of March, 2021, and thereafter was extended for one year at a regular meeting of said City Council held on the 8th day of February, 2022, by the following vote, to wit:
AYES: COUNCILMEMBERS:
NOES: COUNCILMEMBERS:
ABSENT: COUNCILMEMBERS:
ABSTAIN: COUNCILMEMBERS:
________________________________________
Pamela Coleman, City Clerk, City of Orange