City Council
Staff Report
From: City Manager
Report Type: CONSENT CALENDAR
Lead Department: Planning and Development Services
Meeting Date: December 8, 2025
Report #:2510-5368
TITLE
FIRST READING: Adoption of an Interim Ordinance to Extend Interim Ordinance 5645 of the Council of the City of Palo Alto Amending Various Chapters of Title 16 (Building Regulations) and Title 18 (Zoning) and Title 21 (subdivisions and other Divisions of Land) of the Palo Alto Municipal Code to Implement SB 9 and Other State Housing Laws. CEQA Status: Exempt Pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15061(b)(3).
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends the City Council adopt the attached Interim Ordinance extending the effective date of Ordinance 5645 from December 31, 2025, to December 31, 2026.
BACKGROUND
On January 13, 2025, City Council voted unanimously to approve the second reading of Ordinance 5645 adopting changes to Palo Alto Municipal Code Title 16 (Building Regulations), Title 18 (Zoning) and Title 21 (Subdivisions of Land) to implement California Senate Bill (SB) 450 (2024) and adopt Objective Design Standards for two-story houses. Council held public hearings on November 12, 2024,1 and December 16, 2024,2 to discuss and adopt Ordinance 5645.
Ordinance 5645 is set to expire on December 31, 2025. The proposed interim ordinance would extend the effective date to December 31, 2026.
ANALYSIS
No changes are proposed to the ordinance. Extension of the ordinance is required to maintain compliance with multiple state laws including SB 937, AB 2694, AB 3116, SB 1211, and SB 450. 1 City Council Staff Report, November 12, 2024, Item 8:
https://cityofpaloalto.primegov.com/Portal/Meeting?meetingTemplateId=15608 2 City Council Staff Report, December 16, 2024, Item 24:
https://cityofpaloalto.primegov.com/Portal/Meeting?meetingTemplateId=14537
As anticipated, staff attention has been focused on other Council priorities, requiring that a more comprehensive analysis of this ordinance be deferred until next year. Accordingly, the proposed ordinance extension will maintain the existing rules through 2026, allowing the Planning and Transportation Commission (PTC) to review and recommend necessary amendments to Title 18 before the City Council takes action.
FISCAL/RESOURCE IMPACT
Extending the existing ordinance does not have any significant fiscal or resource impacts to the City.
STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT
The Palo Alto Municipal Code requires notice of this public hearing be published in a local paper at least ten days in advance of the hearing. Notice of a public hearing for this project was published in the Daily Post on November 26, 2025 which is 12 days in advance of the meeting.
To date, the City has processed several SB 9 applications utilizing the objective standards.
However, only one application, which is currently under review has proposed to utilize the objective standards in lieu of the IR Design Guidelines as allowed pursuant to Ordinance 5645.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
The draft Ordinance is considered exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15061(b)(3) because it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that updating the municipal code to incorporate existing requirements of State laws will have a significant effect on the environment, and similarly, there would be no significant effect from the non-substantive clarifications.
ATTACHMENTS
Attachment A: Draft Interim Ordinance
Attachment B: Ordinance 5645
APPROVED BY:
Jonathan Lait, Planning and Development Services Director