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CITY OF POMONA
COUNCIL REPORT
December 19, 2022
To: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
From: James Makshanoff, City Manager
Submitted By: Anita D. Gutierrez, AICP, Development Services Director SUBJECT: AN URGENCY ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF POMONA AMENDING SECTIONS .5809-26 OF THE CITY OF POMONA ZONING ORDINANCE PERTAINING TO ACCESSORY DWELLING UNIT AND JUNIOR ACCESSORY DWELLING UNIT REGULATIONS AND DETERMINING THE ORDINANCE TO BE EXEMPT FROM CEQA RECOMMENDATION:
It is recommended that the City Council introduce, waive further and give reading to the following urgency ordinance (Attachments No. 1 & 2):
URGENCY ORDINANCE NO. 4324 - AN URGENCY ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF POMONA AMENDING SECTIONS .5809-26 OF THE CITY OF POMONA ZONING ORDINANCE PERTAINING TO ACCESSORY DWELLING UNIT AND JUNIOR ACCESSORY DWELLING UNIT REGULATIONS AND DETERMINING THE ORDINANCE TO BE EXEMPT FROM CEQA EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
The proposed Urgency Ordinance will amend Section .5809-26 of the City of Pomona Zoning Ordinance to impose new limits on local authority to regulate Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) and Junior Accessory Dwelling Units (JADUs) in compliance with the provisions of Government Code sections 65852.2 and 65852.22 as amended by recently approved State legislation that will take effect on January 1, 2023. In accordance with section 510(c) of the Pomona City Charter, an affirmative vote of five-sevenths (5/7) of the City Council is required for this urgency ordinance to be adopted.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The adoption of the urgency ordinance will not result in any fiscal impact at this time.
PREVIOUS RELATED ACTION:
On July 19, 2021, the City Council adopted Ordinance No. 4307, amending Section .5809-26 (Accessory Dwelling Units) in order to ensure the City’s ADU regulations were fully compliant with State ADU Law in effect at that time.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT:
Under California Public Resources Code section 21080.17, the California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”) does not apply to the adoption of an ordinance by a city or county implementing the provisions of section 65852.2 of the Government Code, which is California’s ADU law and which also regulates JADUs, as defined by section 65852.22. Therefore, the proposed ordinance is statutorily exempt from CEQA in that the proposed ordinance implements the State’s ADU law.
DISCUSSION:
In recent years, the California Legislature has approved, and the Governor has signed into law, a number of bills that, among other things, amended Government Code sections 65852.2 and 65852.22 to impose new limits on local authority to regulate ADUs and JADUs. In 2022, the California Legislature approved, and the Governor signed into law, a new bill (SB 897) that further amends Government Code sections 65852.2 and 65852.22 (“New Amendments”). Among other things, the New Amendments:
Require the City to allow certain ADUs to be higher — up to 18 or 25 feet, depending the situation; Require the City’s front setback to yield for certain ADUs; Require the City to justify a denial with a full set of detailed comments describing the deficiencies in the application and explaining how to remedy them; and Remove the automatic repeal in 2025 (now the ADU statute is permanent).
Failure to comply with Government Code sections 65852.2 and 65852.22 (as amended) by January 1, 2023, renders the City’s ADU ordinance null and void, thereby limiting the City to the application of the few default state standards provided in Government Code sections 65852.2 and 65852.22. The approval of ADUs and JADUs based solely on these default statutory standards, without local regulations governing height, setback, landscape, and architectural review, among other things, would threaten the character of existing neighborhoods, and negatively impact property values, personal privacy, and fire safety.
The proposed ordinance amends the City’s local regulatory scheme for the construction of ADUs and JADUs to comply with recently amended provisions of Government Code sections 65852.2 and 65852.22.
The ADU code amendments are proposed for adoption by urgency ordinance as authorized by Government Code section 36937, subdivision (b). In accordance with section 510(c) of the Pomona City Charter, an affirmative vote from at least five-sevenths (5/7) of the City Council is necessary to adopt the urgency ordinance. Staff will also initiate a non-urgency ADU ordinance that will be considered for approval by the Planning Commission before returning to the City Council for ultimate adoption.
COUNCIL PRIORITIES & GOALS:
This item supports the following 2021-2022 City Council priorities and goals:
Priority 2: Economic Development – Goal J: Encourage the development and maintenance of quality housing opportunities for all.
Prepared by:
Vinny Tam, AICP
Senior Planner
ATTACHMENT(S):
Attachment No. 1 – Draft Urgency Ordinance No. 4324
Attachment No. 2 – Exhibit A
Reading of Urgency Ordinance No. 4324 for Code Amendment (Code 019882-2022)