PLANNING COMMISSION
Staff Report
Scenic Pacifica
Incorporated Nov. 22, 1957
DATE: April 18, 2022 FILE: TA-121-22
ITEM: 2
PUBLIC NOTICE: A one-eighth page Notice of Public Hearing was published in the Pacifica Tribune on April 6, 2022.
APPLICANT: City of Pacifica
SUBJECT: File No. 2022-008 – Text Amendment TA-121-22, initiated by the City of Pacifica, to extend the Growth Management Ordinance codified in Chapter 5 of Title 9 of the Pacifica Municipal Code, which has a current termination date of June 30, 2022. The Text Amendment to be considered would affect property citywide in the A (Agricultural) zoning district and the HPD (Hillside Preservation District) overlay zoning district. The Planning Commission will consider the Text Amendment and make a recommendation to the City Council.
PROJECT
LOCATION:
Citywide for parcels with an A (Agricultural) or HPD (Hillside Preservation District) zoning classification.
RECOMMENDED
CEQA STATUS:
Exempt pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15061(b)(3).
REQUIRED
APPROVALS:
Government Code Section 65853 et seq. requires the Planning Commission to conduct a public hearing and provide a written recommendation to the City Council on any new zoning ordinance, amendment to a zoning ordinance, or change in a property’s zoning designation. Pacifica Municipal Code (PMC) Section 9-4.3501 et seq. similarly requires the Planning Commission to conduct a public hearing and to provide a recommendation by resolution to the City Council on any zoning text amendment or change in a property’s zoning designation.
The City Council, as the legislative body of the City, must conduct a public hearing and enact by ordinance any zoning text amendment or change in a property’s zoning designation before it may take effect.
RECOMMENDED
ACTION:
Adopt the attached Resolution initiating the Text Amendment and recommending approval to City Council (Attachment A).
PREPARED BY: Christian Murdock, AICP, Deputy Director of Planning 2 Packet Pg. 69
PC Staff Report
Growth Management Ordinance of the Pacifica Municipal Code April 18, 2022
DISCUSSION
1. Introduction and Background:
In 1993, the voters of the City of Pacifica adopted Ordinance No. 604-C.S. to add a new Chapter 5 of Title 9 of the Pacifica Municipal Code (“PMC”). The ordinance is known as the City of Pacifica Growth Management Ordinance (GMO). The GMO contains three main components:
1. A requirement for voter approval of any a) rezoning out of the A (Agricultural) zoning district; b) change of the “B” Lot Size Overlay District associated with an A-zoned parcel; or, c) change to the uses or structures permitted on an A-zoned parcel.
2. A requirement for voter approval of any a) rezoning out of the HPD (Hillside Preservation District) overlay zoning district; or, b) change to the standards governing the HPD overlay zoning district in Chapter 4 of Title 9 of the PMC.
3. A residential development allocation (RDA) process that a) establishes an annual allotment of 70 new residential units per year; b) exempts certain types of dwelling units from the requirement to obtain an RDA; and, c) imposes distribution and phasing criteria for the allocation of RDAs.
As enacted by the voters, the GMO had an initial termination date of June 30, 1997. The City Council has adopted several ordinances to extend the termination date of the GMO, most recently with the enactment of Ordinance No. 817-C.S. in 2017 to extend the GMO for five years until June 30, 2022.
Staff proposes extending the GMO for five years—to June 30, 2027—and making clarifying changes so that the dates referenced in PMC Sections 9-5.07 [Agricultural land] and 9-5.08 [Hillside protection] also reflect the five-year extension. Staff proposes not making any changes to the RDA provisions specified in PMC Sec. 9-5.03 [Annual allotment], Sec. 9-5.04 [Exemptions], Sec. 9-5.05 [Allocation]; and Sec. 9-5.06 [Distribution and phasing], as these provisions are not currently enforceable under Senate Bill 330 (“SB 330”).
2. RDA Provisions
The proposed GMO would leave in place the existing provisions of Sections 9-5.03 through 9-5.06 of the PMC related to the RDA process. The City is currently unable to enforce these provisions due changes in state law that took effect following the City’s last extension of the GMO in 2017. Specifically, under the Housing Crisis Act of 2019 (“HCA”), enacted via SB 330 in 2019, the City is prohibited from establishing or implementing any provision that “Limits the number of land use approvals or permits necessary for the approval and construction of housing that will be issued or allocated within all or a portion of the affected county or affected city…” or that “Acts as a cap on the number of housing units that can be approved or constructed either annually or for some other time period.” Government Code section 66300(b)(1)(D). For this reason, staff does not recommend making any clarifying changes to the RDA 2 Packet Pg. 70
PC Staff Report
Growth Management Ordinance of the Pacifica Municipal Code April 18, 2022
provisions at this time. This will enable the City to retain the RDA provisions for future implementation when permissible under state law, as the HCA contains a sunset date of January 1, 2034. However, until the HCA sunsets, the City will be unable to implement the RDA provisions.
3. Proposed Modifications:
The existing provisions of the GMO, codified in Chapter 5 of Title 9 of the PMC, are included with strikethrough and underline showing deletions and additions, respectively, in Attachment B. The proposed ordinance would extend the overall GMO for five years and make clarifying changes reflecting the ongoing enforceability of the voter approval requirements for changes to the A (Agricultural) and HPD (Hillside Preservation District) zoning districts by updating the dates referenced in these specific provisions (PMC Sections 9-5.07 [Agricultural land] and 9-5.08 [Hillside protection]. The new termination date established in the proposed ordinance would be June 30, 2027.
Overall Growth Management Ordinance Termination Date
The proposed ordinance would amend Section 9-5.11 of the PMC to extend the termination date of the GMO by five years to June 30, 2027.
A (Agricultural) and HPD (Hillside Preservation District) Voter Approval Requirements The proposed ordinance would amend Sections 9-5.07 and 9-5.08 of the PMC related to requirements for voter approval to modify A (Agricultural) and HPD (Hillside Preservation District) zoning classifications and standards, respectively, to clarify that these provisions would remain in effect through June 30, 2027.
4. Staff Recommendation:
Staff recommends adoption of the resolution included as Attachment A to initiate Text Amendment TA121-22 and to recommend City Council approval of an ordinance to extend certain provisions of the GMO for five years as outlined above in Section 2 of this staff report.
MOTION FOR APPROVAL:
Move that the Planning Commission FINDS the proposed ordinance is exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act; ADOPTS the resolution included as Attachment A to the staff report to initiate Text Amendment TA-121-22 and recommend approval to the City Council; and, INCORPORATES all maps and testimony into the record by reference.
ATTACHMENT LIST:
Attachment A - Draft Resolution to Initiate Text Amendment and Recommend City Council Approval of Ordinance to Extend Growth Management Ordinance (DOCX) Attachment B - Current Growth Management Ordinance with Redlines - PMC Title 9, Chapter 5 (DOCX)
2 Packet Pg. 71