Agenda Item
Planning Commission
Item #: 5.2. 11/7/2022 File #: 22-0603
TO: Chair and Members of the Planning Commission
THRU: Anna Pehoushek, Assistant Community Development Director FROM: Chad Ortlieb, Senior Planner
1. SUBJECT
Public Hearing to consider revising the Zoning Code to establish a Neighborhood Preservation Overlay District and finding of CEQA exemption.
2. SUMMARY
The proposed ordinance establishes a Neighborhood Preservation Overlay District to provide regulations crafted to control surges in construction of new additions and interior renovations to single-family dwellings in neighborhoods that have experienced a high volume of construction activity that has resulted in adverse impacts to their single-family character, and to allow orderly home additions and renovations.
3. RECOMMENDED ACTION
Adopt Planning Commission Resolution No. 29-22 entitled:
A recommendation to the City Council to revise the Zoning Code to establish a Neighborhood Preservation Overlay District and establish development standards applicable to specified projects adding bedrooms and bathrooms to a primary residence.
4. AUTHORIZING GUIDELINES
Orange Municipal Code (OMC) Table 17.18.020 and Section 17.18.020B.2.b.i. authorize the Planning Commission to review and make recommendations to the City Council on applications for zone ordinance amendments.
5. PROJECT BACKGROUND
Over the course of 2019 and 2020, the City saw numerous applications for additions or interior renovations to single-family dwellings (primary residences) in which several bedrooms and bathrooms were 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. In response, on February 16, 2021, the City Council adopted interim Ordinance No. 02-21, which prohibited the addition of three or more bedrooms or three or more bathrooms to the primary residence on lots less than 12,000 square feet and refined definitions of Dormitory and Student Housing. On March 23, 2021, the City Council extended interim Ordinance No. 02-21-A until February 15, 2022; and on February 8, 2022, the City Council extended interim Ordinance No. 02-21- B until February 15, 2023. Since February 2021, staff has developed regulations for allowing bedroom and bathroom additions in that area of the City most affected by the types of projects City of Orange Printed on 11/4/2022Page 1 of 3
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Item #: 5.2. 11/7/2022 File #: 22-0603
bedroom and bathroom additions in that area of the City most affected by the types of projects causing the adverse impacts, resulting in the proposed Neighborhood Preservation Overlay District Ordinance
6. PROJECT DESCRIPTION
Staff has identified the geographic area within the City where applications for multiple bedroom and bathroom additions were most concentrated and contributed to the negative impacts discussed in the interim ordinance staff report (Attachment 2). Based on the general location of those applications, the proposed permanent ordinance (Attachments 1 and 5) would be applicable to the area bounded by Katella Avenue to the north, Main Street to the west, SR-55 to the east, and SR-22 to the south (Attachment 3 - Neighborhood Preservation Overlay District Zoning Map Excerpt).
The proposed ordinance does not prohibit the addition of bedrooms or bathrooms, but certain additional space requirements apply. Projects adding bedrooms will generally require:
· additional usable open space (100 square feet per bedroom), · additional indoor common living area (100 square feet per bedroom), and · additional 50 cubic feet of unified indoor storage area per bedroom.
Furthermore, the maximum floor area ratio for a lot is reduced by five percent for each bedroom added, up to two bedrooms in order to keep the scale of homes with bedroom additions compatible with the surrounding neighborhood context.
The Community Development Director may ministerially approve the addition of one or two bedrooms and/or bathrooms meeting the ordinance criteria. Planning Commission approval is required for the addition of more than two bedrooms and/or bathrooms, or for ordinance development standard deviations, subject to neighborhood preservation findings. The Design Review Committee remains responsible for the review of all projects in the Historic Overlay Districts that add square feet or propose exterior modifications.
7. ANALYSIS AND STATEMENT OF THE ISSUES
No issues exist for the proposed ordinance because it reduces the negative impacts experienced within the Neighborhood Preservation Overlay District.
8. PUBLIC NOTICE
A notice was published in the Orange City News newspaper on October 28, 2022.
9. ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
Categorical Exemption: The proposed project is not subject to the provisions of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to (1) Section 15061(b)(3) of the state CEQA Guidelines (Common Sense Exemption) because it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that it would have a significant effect on the environment; and (2) Section 15378 because it will not have a direct or reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change on the environment and is not a "project." For this reason, no further CEQA documentation is required.
10. ADVISORY BOARD ACTION
No advisory board review was required for this ordinance
11. ATTACHMENTS
City of Orange Printed on 11/4/2022Page 2 of 3
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Item #: 5.2. 11/7/2022 File #: 22-0603
· Attachment 1 - Planning Commission Resolution No. PC 29-22 with Ordinance No. 10-22 · Attachment 2 - February 8, 2022, City Council Urgency Ordinance No. 02-21 Extension Staff Report
· Attachment 3 - Neighborhood Preservation Overlay District Zoning Map Excerpt · Attachment 4 - Citywide Zoning Map with Neighborhood Preservation Overlay District · Attachment 5 - Redlined Ordinance No. 10-22
City of Orange Printed on 11/4/2022Page 3 of 3
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