City Council Report
City Council Meeting: January 25, 2022
Agenda Item: 7.A
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To: Mayor and City Council
From: David Martin, Director, Administration
Subject: Introduction and Adoption of Emergency Interim Zoning Ordinance and Emergency Ordinance to Extend Permitting Timelines
Recommended Action
Staff recommends that the City Council:
1. Introduce and adopt an emergency Interim Zoning Ordinance to extend deadlines to exercise and continuously pursue the rights granted under planning entitlements, permits and approvals issued and still active as of March 13, 2020, or issued between March 13, 2020 and December 31, 2022 or for which applications were received between March 13, 2020 and December 21, 2022 under the Zoning Ordinance, Chapters 9.01 to 9.52 of the Santa Monica Municipal Code (“SMMC”), by two years; and allow planning entitlements, permits and approvals issued and still active as of March 13, 2020, or issued between March 13, 2020 and December 31, 2022 to request a First Time Extension or Other Extension pursuant to SMMC Section 9.37.090(C)(1) and
9.37.090(C)(2) at any time at least 30 days prior to the expiration of the permit under Article IX of the Santa Monica Municipal Code
2. Introduce and adopt an emergency ordinance amending SMMC 8.08.070 to extend deadlines for expiration of building permits, plan reviews and related approvals issued and still active as of March 13, 2020, issued between March 13, 2020 and December 31, 2022, or for which complete applications have been received between March 13, 2020 and December 31, 2022 by two years; and amending SMMC Chapter 9.56, the Landmarks Ordinance, to extend certain public hearing deadlines for applications for Structure of Merit and Landmark designations and for Certificates of Appropriateness, and to extend deadlines for Certificates of Appropriateness that by two years.
Summary
With the pending expiration of emergency orders as of January 31, 2022 and the ongoing impacts of COVID-19 to City operations and the building industry, the proposed 2 of 7
Emergency Interim Zoning Ordinance (IZO) and emergency ordinance(s) would continue the COVID-era deadline extensions for planning entitlements, building permits, and plan reviews for projects with active planning entitlements, building permits or plan reviews as of the start of the COVID emergency, and for projects that have been issued planning entitlements, building permits, plan checks or have submitted applications for planning entitlements, building permits or plan reviews starting with the COVID emergency until December 31, 2022 in order to support continued economic recovery, as well as extend the public hearing timelines for applications associated with the historic preservation program. A current and immediate threat to the public health, safety, and general welfare continues to exist due to the devastating impact the COVID19-mandated closures and limitations have had on the local economy, and the proposed interim zoning regulations and emergency ordinances are necessary to stimulate economic recovery and to protect the public health, safety, and welfare.
Background
On March 13, 2020, the City declared the existence of a local emergency in response to COVID-19. On April 14, 2020, Council directed that a restructuring of City services be focused around health and safety, emergency response, and economic recovery. As introduced at the April 28, 2020 City Council meeting, the City implemented a multipronged economic recovery plan that focused on five policy areas:
• Business Retention/Reopening
• Business Process/Permitting Improvements
• Outreach/Marketing
• Community Economic Development/Local Hire
• Federal and State Resources/Funding Partnerships
In response to this direction and the economic effects of COVID-19, the Director of Emergency Services, adopted a series of supplements to the City’s local emergency order, which the City Council ratified. One of those supplements suspended and extended deadlines for planning and permit-related actions including extending deadlines to exercise rights granted under planning entitlements and issued building 3 of 7
permits and plan reviews active as of March 13, 2020. Due to the state of emergency, processing timelines were also suspended, including those associated with the historic preservation program.
On April 24, 2020, the Director of Emergency Services issued the Twelfth Supplement to the Executive Order of the Director of Emergency Services Declaring the Existence of a Local Emergency that, among other things, tolled and extended all deadlines for planning and permit-related actions including deadlines to review, determine the completeness of, or take action on applications for planning entitlements, permits, and approvals issued under Article IX of the Santa Monica Municipal Code.
On August 18, 2021, the Director of Emergency Services issued the Third Revised Eighteenth Supplement to the Executive Order of the Director of Emergency Services Declaring the Existence of a Local Emergency (“Third Revised Eighteenth Supplement”) that, among other things, restated the tolling and extension of deadlines for planning, review, and permit-related actions.
On November 24, 2020, the Director of Emergency Services issued a Twenty-Eighth Supplement to the Executive Order of the Director of Emergency Services Declaring the Existence of a Local Emergency (“Twenty-Eighth Supplement”) that, among other things, further extended and clarified certain deadlines for planning, review, and permitrelated actions.
On July 14, 2021, the Director of Emergency Services issued a Thirty-Ninth Supplement to the Executive Order of the Director of Emergency Services Declaring the Existence of a Local Emergency that extended certain supplements to September 30, 2021, including those associated with the extension and tolling of planning and permit-related actions.
The local emergency has been further extended to January 31, 2022. 4 of 7
Discussion
Extension of Deadlines for Planning Review and Permit-Related Actions Pursuant to SMMC Section 9.37.090 planning entitlements have two years to exercise rights, typically obtained by issuance of a building permit or commencement of a use, as applicable. Special timelines apply for projects in the Coastal Zone (additional 6 months) and housing projects that have received City, State, or Federal funding and include at least 50% of units affordable to low-income households (3 years).
For plan review, building permits, and construction projects, the following are the standard deadlines:
• Plan Review - one year from date of fee payment with opportunity for one sixmonth extension • Building Permits - applicant has one year to start construction and must call for at least one valid inspection every 180 days
• Complete Construction - the length of time for when construction is required to be completed depends on project valuation as follows:
o Under $300K - 12 months
o $300,001 to $1M - 24 months
o $1,000,001 to $20M - 36 months
o Over $20M - 48 months
A further two years is proposed to be added to all planning entitlements, issued building permits, and plan reviews active as of March 13, 2020, which was when the COVID-19 emergency was declared, until December 31, 2022. The additional two years to exercise rights is to allow applicants additional time to proceed with their projects due to the economic impacts of COVID-19, which has affected business operations and the construction industry. The time extension does not apply to review and permit-related actions relating to compliance with timelines set forth in SMMC Chapters 8.58, 8.60,
8.64, 8.76 and 8.80 (i.e., seismic retrofit deadlines, excluding soft-story retrofits), unless an application was pending as of March 13, 2020. Further, for consistency with the permitting time extensions for land use entitlements in the Zoning Ordinance, expiration 5 of 7
dates for Certificates of Appropriateness, which are governed by the Landmarks Ordinance, will also be extended by an additional two years.
In addition, a procedural issue has arisen from applicants wishing to request extensions for permits that will be expiring. SMMC Section 9.37.090(C) does not allow applicants to submit a request for time extension any earlier than 6 months before the expiration of their permit. That timing restriction is in place because it is expected that applicants are diligently pursuing exercising rights for their permits and must be able to demonstrate cause for extension of the permit. The impacts of COVID-19 have increased the uncertainty for applicants who may need to request additional extensions beyond the two additional years already granted. Therefore, it is proposed that applicants be allowed to request a time extension at any time prior to 30 days before the expiration of their permit.
Landmarks Ordinance Public Hearing Timelines
SMMC Sections 9.56.090, 9.56.120 and 9.56.170 set forth deadlines by which applications for designation of a Structure of Merit or Landmark, and Certificates of Appropriateness applications must have their first hearing before the Landmarks Commission and by which a final determination on any such application must be made.
The Landmarks Commission is required to make a determination on a Structure of Merit application within 90 days. For Landmarks, the Landmarks Commission is required to applications must be heard within 65 days and Public hearings on Certificate of Appropriateness applications must be heard within 45 days.
Due to the economic impacts of COVID-19 on the City’s budget, staff support for the historic preservation program was substantially reduced. In addition, applicants are now required to fund the technical reports necessary for the analysis of these applications necessitating preparation of contracts and receipt of funds. Due to these circumstances, it is not possible to realistically meet these timelines. It is proposed that the Structure of Merit and Landmark designation application public hearing deadline be extended to 100 days and that the Certificate of Appropriateness public hearing deadline be extended to 65 days as part of the proposed Emergency ordinance. The 6 of 7
Landmarks Commission would then have 35 days to render a decision on a Structure of Merit or Landmarks designation application. The timeframes to Landmarks Commission to render a decision on a Certificate of Appropriateness would remain unchanged.
These modest increases reflect the time necessary to bring these applications forward and is consistent with timelines from past applications.
Environmental Analysis
The proposed Emergency IZO to extend expiration dates for permits and modify certain timelines for the processing of Landmark applications are exempt from the provisions of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to Section 15061(b)(3) of the State Implementation Guidelines (common sense exception). Based on the evidence in the record, it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that the proposed changes may have a significant effect on the environment. The proposal would not result in adverse physical environmental effects as these are procedural changes.
Therefore, no further environmental review under CEQA is required. Projects issued permits would be undergoing their own separate CEQA review prior to permit issuance.
Financial Impacts and Budget Actions
There is no immediate financial impact or budget action necessary as a result of the recommended action.
Prepared By: Jing Yeo, Planning Manager
Approved Forwarded to Council
Attachments:
A. CCD-IZO-Permit Timeframe Extensions-2020.01.25
B. CDD--Permit Timeframe Exetension Emergency Ordinance 01.25.2022 7 of 7
C. PowerPoint Presentation