ORDINANCE NO. 02- 21- B
SECOND EXTENSION OF A REVISED URGENCY
ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE
CITY OF ORANGE PROHIBITING THE ADDI' I' ION
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 authorizes the City Council to adopt, as anurgency measure, an interim ordinance prohibiting any useswhich may be in conflict with a contemplatedzoning proposalwhich the City Council, planning commission or planning departmentis 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 eachbedroom, in some casestransforming two or three bedroom homes into seven or eight bedroom and batliroom 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 OrangeMunicipal Code(OMC) doesnot currently contain a definition for suchusesasdormitory or studenthousing, andadding suchdefinitions will( 1)provide clarity for the categorization of renovations to primary residencesas opposed to the creation of uses suchasdormitoriesor studenthousingand (2) help differentiatethe characteristicsof single- family homes from dormitories and studenthousing 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 speeddemonstrations, trampled landscaping, loud music,unrulyparties, congregationof crowdsfromoutsidetheneighborhoodsin thefrontyards over and above the number of occupants, confrontational inferactions with neighbors, public drinking, late night disturbances, litter including bottles and cups visible to the neighborhood, overflowing trash cans,police responsesto residentcomplaints, party call prosecutions,andwhat has been describedby neighbors as a "fraternity" atmosphere, all of which effects constitute a public nuisanceto 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 primar'y residenceuseon lots lessthan12,000squarefeet, andaddingdefinitions.of dormitory, primaryresidenceandstudenthousing, andrevisingdefinitionsof bedroomandboardinghouse, which Ordinance was effective for forty- five days, until Apri12, 2021; and WHEREAS, pursuant to. Government Code Section 65858( a), on March 23, 2021, after noticeasrequiredby law anda public hearing, the City CouncilextendedurgencyOrdinance No. 02-21, asrevised; 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 addedpermanentdefinitionsof PrimaryResidenceandBedroomamongotherprovisions,which Ordinance became effective on May 13, 2021. Saiddefinitionsareno longernecessaryin the urgency Ordinance; and
WHEREAS, pursuant to Government Code Section 65858( a), after notice and a public hearingasrequiredby law, theCity Councilmay,by not lessthana four-fifths vote, extendthe urgencyOrdinancefor anadditionaloneyear; and
WHEREAS, extension of urgency OrdinanceNo. 02-21-A, asamended,will extendthe prohibitionon theadditionof threeor morebedroomsor threeor morebathroomsto aprimary residenceuse on lots less than 12,000 squarefeet for an additional one year and will extend the addition of definitions of dormitory and studenthousing; and WHEREAS, notice of the hearing on the extension of urgency Ordinance No. 02-21-A was publishedin a newspaperof generalcirculation in accordancewith GovernmentCode Section 65090; and
WHEREAS, a public hearingwasheld on February8, 2022, to considerextensionof 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 circumstancesand to what extent sirigle- family dwellings constitutinga primary dwelling use niay be expandedin the numberof bedroomsand number of bathrooms, along with other remodeling development standards; and WHEREAS, the City is continuingto study the requiredprocedurefor evaluating applications for the expansionof single-family dwellings to determinethe proper level of review requiredto protectthepeace, liealth, safetyandwelfareof theneighborhoodandthepublic at large and mitigate the specific adverse impacts stated herein; and WHEREAS, theCityis continuingto studythedefinitionsof dormitory,studenthousing andboardinghouse,to achieveafair balancebetweenaccommodationof propertyowners' rights andthe negativeeffectsof a concentrationof studentsoccupyingdwellings in single-family residential neighborhoods; and
WI3EREAS, 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 andwelfare; and
2. That the approval of additional building permits or any other applicable entitlement allowing the addition of three or more bedrooms or three or more bathrooms to a single-family dwelling that is a primary residenceuse on a lot less than 12,000 squarefeet as required by the current Zoning Codewould have specific adverseimpacts upon thepublic peace, health, safety or welfare; and
3. That the addition to Orange Municipal Code Chapter 17.04 of tfie following definitions is necessaryto preservethe public peace,health, safety and welfare:
DORMITORY, See also STUDENT HOUSING — A structure used for group accommodations, containing a riumber of private or semiprivatebedroomswith 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 dormitory may be owned or operatedby 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 studentsof an educational facility for sleepingaccommodations. 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 necessaryto mitigate and avoid the specific adverse impacts stated herein; and
5. That thereis 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, asamended; 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, 2023, is a matter of Citywide importance andis necessaryfor the immediate preservation andprotection of thepublic health, safety or welfare of the community.
NOW THEREFORE, the City Council of the City of Orangehereby ordains asfollows:
I
SECTION I:
The recitals and findings contained herein are true and correct, incorporated herein, and with the public record, form the basis for the secondextension 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 residenceuse on a lot lessthan 12,000 squarefeet, asrequired 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 studenthousing asset 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 foreseeableindirect physical changein the environment, becausethere 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 eventthe urgency Ordinancewould constitute aprojectunder CEQA, it is exempt from the provisions of CEQA per StateCEQA Guideline 15321 (Class21, Enforcement Actions by Regulatory Agencies) becauseit is an action taken by the City as a regulatory agency, as authorizedby local ordinance,to prevent tl e issuanceof permits for the addition of threeor more bedrooms or bathrooms to a single-family dwelling in order to prevent a public nuisance. As such, no further analysis is warranted or required.
SECTION V:
This urgency Ordinanceis intended to immediately supersedeany existing provisions of the Orange Municipal Code to the extent those existing provisions are inconsistent with this urgency Ordinance.
SECTION VI:
If any section, subdivision, paragraph, sentence, clause or phrase of this urgency Ordinanceis for anyreasonheldtobeinvalidorunconstitutional, suchdecisionshallnotaffect the validity of 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 phrasethereof, irrespective of the fact that any one (or more) section, subdivision, paragraph, sentence, clause or phrase had been declared invalid or unconstitutional.
SECTION VII:
In accordancewith GovernmentCode65858,urgency OrdinanceNo. 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 unlessotherwise repealed.
APPROVED this 8th day of February, 2022.
Ma A. Murphy, Mayor, City f Orange
ATTEST:
PamelaColeman, City Clerk, City of Orange
STATE OF CALIFORNIA. )
GOUNTY OF ORANGE )
CITY OF ORANGE
I, PAMELA COLEMAN, City Clerk of the City of Orange, California, do hereby certify that the foregoirig Ordinance was adopted as an urgency Ordinance at a special meeting of the City Council held on the 16thday of February,2021, andthereafterwas extendedfor ten months and fifteen days at a regular adjourned meeting of said City Council held on the 23rd day of March, 2021, andthereafter was extendedfor one year at a regular meeting of said City Couricil heldonthe8thdayof February, 2022,bythefollowingvote, towit:
AYES: COUNCILMEMBERS: Murphy, Nichols, Monaco, Barrios, Dumitru, Tavoularis, Gutierrez
NOES: COUNCILMEMBERS: None
ABSENT: COUNCILMEMBERS: None
ABSTAIN: COUNCILMEMBERS: None
Pamela Coleman, City Clerk, City o range