Agenda Item Staff Report
To: Honorable Mayor and Members of City Council
For the Meeting of July 12, 2022
From: Chris Constantin, City Manager
Prepared by: Luis Torrico, Planning Manager
Subject: Discuss Zoning, Design and Development Standards the City Could to Include in an Ordinance to Minimize Negative Impacts Related to Senate Bill 9, Which Requires Cities to Ministerially Approve Subdivisions of Single-Family Zoned Parcels into Two (2) Parcels and Developments of Two (2) Residential Units on Single-Family Zoned Parcels.
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SUMMARY
Senate Bill 9 (SB 9) was signed into law in September 2021 and went into effect January 1, 2022. SB 9 requires cities to ministerially approve subdivisions of single-family zoned parcels into two (2) parcels and developments of two (2) residential units on single-family zoned parcels.
On January 25, 2022, the City Council approved an initiation for a Municipal Code Text Amendment to amend the San Dimas Municipal Code related to SB 9.
SB 9 law allows cities to adopt objective zoning, design and development standards, however, there are limitations, including, but not limited to unit size, setbacks, parking, and off-site improvements for subdivisions. Staff prepared a list of optional standards which could assist in minimizing negative impacts related to SB 9 developments.
On June 16, 2022, the Planning Commission considered the options and provided recommendations to the City Council.
Staff recommends that the City Council discuss and consider the proposed options for incorporation into an SB 9 ordinance, which will be brought before the Planning Commission and City Council in the near future.
ATTACHMENT 3
SB 9 Ordinance Options Page 2
For the Meeting of July 12, 2022
RECOMMENDATION
City Staff recommends that the City Council
• Discuss and provide Staff direction regarding the proposed options to include within the ordinance pertaining to Senate Bill 9 (SB 9).
FISCAL IMPACT
No fiscal impact to the City.
BACKGROUND
On September 16, 2021, in an effort to ease California’s housing shortage, SB 9 was signed into law by Governor Gavin Newsom, and went into effect on January 1, 2022. SB 9 requires cities to ministerially approve urban lot splits and two-unit residential developments for parcels zoned single-family, essentially allowing a single-family zoned parcel to have up to four (4) units, should the parcel be split and developed with two (2) units each pursuant to the new law. Cities are allowed to implement objective development standards; however, these standards would have to allow, at a minimum, 1,200 square-foot lot splits, and 800 square-foot units if developed pursuant to SB 9.
In order to regulate SB 9 projects and retain some local control, on January 25, 2022 the City Council approved an initiation for a Municipal Code Text Amendment (MCTA) to amend the San Dimas Municipal Code related to SB 9. The amendment will include objective zoning, design and development standards in compliance with the law, to allow at a minimum 1,200 square-foot lot splits and 800 square-foot two-unit developments. Prior to bringing the MCTA ordinance before the Planning Commission and City Council, Staff has prepared a list of possible standards the City could adopt to minimize the negative impacts of SB 9.
These standards were presented to the Planning Commission at their June 16, 2022 meeting.
The Commission did not agree with the premise of SB 9, but understood that it is the law and the City needs to comply with the law. They agreed in creating standards that would limit impacts related to SB 9. Information about the Commission’s comments and recommendations is provided later in the report under the optional standards discussion.
DISCUSSION/ANALYSIS
SB 9 allows by-right subdivisions and housing developments that could change the character of single-family neighborhoods. The law undermines local control as it requires cities to approve projects ministerially and includes development standards that are less restrictive than what the San Dimas Municipal Code currently allows for lot splits and residential developments. While SB 9 projects are allowed by-right, and sets forth minimum requirements, the law gives cities limited control by allowing cities to establish objective development standards.
SB 9 Minimum Requirements
The following are the minimum requirements that must be applied to Urban Lot Splits:
1. The parcel to be subdivided must be zoned for single-family residential and cannot be located within a historic district.
SB 9 Ordinance Options Page 3
For the Meeting of July 12, 2022
2. The lot split cannot result in more than two (2) parcels, and each newly created parcel would have to have a minimum lot area of 1,200 square feet and must be at least 40 percent the size of the original lot.
3. Each of the newly created parcels could potentially be developed with a maximum of two (2) units, for a total of four (4) units resulting from the one (1) lot split (See Figure 2).
4. Per the law, Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) and Junior Accessory Dwelling Units (JADUs) are counted towards the maximum number of units on SB 9 developments, and allows cities to prohibit ADUs and JADUs on lots created through SB 9.
5. The parcel to be subdivided cannot have been previously subdivided pursuant to SB 9, and neither the owner of the parcel being divided nor any other person acting in concert with the owner shall have previously subdivided any adjacent parcel pursuant to SB 9.
6. When approving SB 9 lot splits, cities cannot require dedications of right-of-way or the construction of off-site improvements as a condition of approving a lot split.
7. The lot split must not require the demolition or alteration of protected affordable housing or housing that has been occupied by a tenant in the last three (3) years.
8. The applicant is required to sign an affidavit stating that they intend to occupy one of the housing units as their principal residence for at least three (3) years from the date of approval of the lot split; therefore, vacant lots would be disqualified as the occupancy requirement would not be met.
9. Units created under this law cannot be used as short-term rentals.
The law also requires cities to ministerially approve two-unit residential developments, with a minimum floor area of 800 square-feet, on any single-family zone parcel. This could result in up to four (4) units on one (1) single-family zoned lot (See Figure 1). Cities can require compliance with development standards, but cannot preclude an 800 square-foot unit from being developed.
The following are minimum requirements that must be applied to two-unit residential developments:
1. Requires minimum four-foot side and rear yard setbacks for new units, and does not require setbacks for a structure constructed in the same location and to the same dimensions as an existing structure.
2. A maximum of one (1) parking space is required for each new unit; however, if the parcel is located within a half-mile of a high-quality transit corridor or a major transit stop, or there is a car share vehicle located within one block of the parcel, then the City cannot require any onsite parking.
3. The project cannot require the demolition of more than 25 percent of the existing exterior walls.
4. Lastly, similar to the requirement for Urban Lot Splits, two-unit developments must not require the demolition or alteration of protected affordable housing or housing that has SB 9 Ordinance Options Page 4
For the Meeting of July 12, 2022
been occupied by a tenant in the last three (3) years, and the parcel cannot be a historic landmark or located within a historic district.
Figure 1 - Two-unit development scenarios for one single-family lot (no lot split). *A JADU would be located entirely within an existing/proposed single-family residence.
Figure 2 - Lot split & two-unit development scenarios for one single-family lot. *A JADU would be located entirely within an existing/proposed single-family residence.
Staff intends on drafting an ordinance that will implement objective standards to SB 9 developments to minimize impacts to existing single-family neighborhoods. Therefore, the ordinance will include the State’s minimum requirements limiting newly created lots to a minimum lot area of 1,200 square-feet, and limiting units to a maximum of 800 square-feet. The ordinance will also include standards to assist in achieving some consistency with existing single-family residential neighborhoods including, but not limited to, unit design, driveway, and occupancy standards.
Optional SB 9 Standards
While the law establishes the minimum number of units allowed, minimum setbacks and unit size requirements, cities can adopt additional objective standards to gain greater regulatory control and bring SB 9 developments closer to compliance with the City’s single-family development standards. The options below can be included in the ordinance to achieve this.
Unit Size
Units developed pursuant to SB 9 must be approved with a minimum floor area of 800 squarefeet. However, the ordinance to be drafted intends to apply existing development standards to the extent that they do not preclude the development of up to two (2) 800 square-foot units; thereby SB 9 Ordinance Options Page 5
For the Meeting of July 12, 2022
limiting a unit to no more than 800 square-feet in floor area. The ordinance can also include incentives to allow units larger than the 800 square-foot minimum, for a total floor area of up to 1,000 or 1,200 square-feet if certain criteria is met.
Potential Unit Size Options:
1. A 1,000 square-foot unit would be allowed if the proposed unit complies with existing setback and lot coverage requirements.
2. A 1,200 square-foot unit would be allowed if the unit complies with existing setback and lot coverage requirements, and also provides a code-compliant two-car garage.
These incentives would allow SB 9 projects to be consistent with existing residential development standards and the two-car garage would reduce impacts to street parking. The Planning Commission agreed with providing additional floor area above the 800 square-foot minimum if it would incentivize developments to comply with the City’s existing residential development standards. Specifically, they agreed with any standards that would provide on-site parking for SB 9 units. They recommended that the additional floor area criteria be included in the ordinance.
Height
The law does not restrict cities from imposing height restrictions on SB 9 units. Staff’s intent is to draft an ordinance that limits SB 9 units to one-story in height.
Potential Height Option:
1. The ordinance can include a provision that allows two-story units if the unit complies with existing setback, lot coverage requirements and also provides a code-compliant two-car garage.
Under this scenario, the maximum unit floor area could be up to 1,200 square-feet and the twocar garage would reduce impacts to street parking and would be consistent with parking requirements for existing single-family residences. In addition, requiring that the unit be built over the garage, would reduce the building footprint which may allow for more open yard space than a one-story unit would.
The Commission agreed with limiting SB 9 projects to one-story in height unless they provide a two-car garage. As previously mentioned, the Commission agreed with including standards that would provide on-site parking for SB 9 units to reduce any impacts on residential street parking.
They recommended that this allowance be included in the ordinance.
Parking/Driveways
SB 9 requires that a maximum of one (1) parking space be required for each new unit, unless the property is located within one-half mile of a high-quality transit corridor or a major transit stop.
Potential Parking/Driveway Option:
1. For projects that would be exempt from providing on-site parking, the ordinance could be written to not allow driveways.
SB 9 Ordinance Options Page 6
For the Meeting of July 12, 2022
This could serve as a mechanism to persuade applicants to provide on-site parking for SB 9 projects. Conversely, if driveways are not allowed for parking-exempt projects, it could potentially impact existing neighborhoods by forcing residents to park on the street. While this option could lead to the provision of on-site parking, it could also lead to more vehicles parking on the street.
The Commission understood Staff’s approach to not allow driveways for projects exempt from providing parking to encourage on-site parking. However, their main concern was to keep vehicles from having to park on the street. Therefore, they recommended against this option and recommended to allow a driveway to provide a parking pad for parking-exempt projects.
In addition, during the meeting discussion, Staff informed the Commission that some cities were denying annual parking permits for units developed pursuant to SB 9. This was done in an attempt to require SB 9 projects to provide on-site parking. The Commission was not in favor of this procedure, and reiterated that while they did not agree with SB 9, understood that the City needs to comply with the law, but Staff should adopt standards to mitigate negative impacts, specifically those related to on-street parking.
As previously mentioned, cities cannot control the number of units developed pursuant to SB 9 nor can cities deny a unit with at least 800 square-feet in floor area and four-foot (4’) side and rear yard setbacks. However, the above mentioned options could assist in reducing impacts SB 9 projects could have on existing single-family residential neighborhoods. Until the ordinance is drafted and adopted, applicants can request subdivisions and/or two-unit residential developments as long as their requests comply with the minimum State criteria, which means units can be larger than 800 square-feet. Since both the subdivisions and two-unit developments would be allowed ministerially, they would both be exempt from California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) review.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
An ordinance adopted, or in this case, the request to initiate the MCTA pursuant to SB 9 does not count as a project for CEQA purposes, and is therefore not subject to CEQA review.
Respectfully submitted,
Luis Torrico
Planning Manager
Attachments
1 Senate Bill 9 Law
2 Planning Commission Staff Report – June 16, 2022