City Council
Report
City Council Meeting: February 13, 2024
Agenda Item: 10.A
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To: Mayor and City Council
From: David Martin, Director, Administration
Subject: Introduction and Adoption of an Emergency Interim Zoning Ordinance Extending Emergency Interim Zoning Ordinance Number 2772 (CCS) Authorizing the Establishment by Resolution, of Objective Design Standards for Qualifying Housing Projects that Elect to Use the Streamlined, Ministerial Approval Process Established by Senate Bill 35.
Recommended Action
Staff recommends that the City Council:
1. Adopt a finding of no possibility of significant effect pursuant to Section 15061(b)(3)(Common Sense Exemption) of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines;
2. Introduction and adoption of an Emergency Interim Zoning Ordinance extending Emergency Interim Zoning Ordinance Number 2772(CCS) authorizing Council to establish, by Resolution, objective design standards for housing projects that qualify for the streamlined, ministerial approval process established by SB 35 housing projects.
Summary
On December 19, 2023, Council adopted Emergency Interim Zoning Ordinance 2772 (CCS) authorizing Council to establish, by Resolution, objective design standards for housing projects that qualify for the streamlined, ministerial approval process established by SB 35 housing projects. The adopted Emergency Interim Zoning Ordinance (“EIZO”) includes objective design standards related to ground floor design, facades and materials, open space, and parking screening that will apply exclusively to qualifying SB 35 housing projects providing at least 50% of its units as affordable. SB 35 projects are provided streamlined review and are exempt from any discretionary consideration, including ARB design review. These objective design standards are 2 of 9
intended to implement the City’s design principles for housing projects absent the ARB’S review of qualifying SB 35 housing projects. The standards were developed with a focus on practicality, constructability, and minimal additional cost so as not to create barriers to housing production.
The emergency interim zoning ordinance became effective immediately upon its adoption by Council on December 19, 2023 and is set to expire on February 19, 2024.
Council may extend the emergency interim zoning ordinance through February 19, 2029, allowing the IZO to be effective up to 60 months in accordance with SMMC Section 9.46.090(C). Staff recommends extending the IZO for 24 months through February 19, 2026. Staff will continue to evaluate objective design standards for housing projects in the Bergamot Area Plan as part of the next phase of Housing Element Program implementation efforts that will continue through 2024. Accordingly, staff anticipates returning to the Council by Fall 2024 with additional zoning amendments as required by the Housing Element, including permanent adoption of these SB 35 objective design standards by resolution.
Staff recommends that the Council extend IZO 2772 (CCS) as adopted by the Council on December 19, 2023 with no changes. Council would retain the authority to modify or repeal the ordinance prior to February 2026 should it choose to do so.
Background
Senate Bill 35 (SB 35) was passed in 2017 by the California State Legislature and signed into law; it was subsequently amended most recently by SB 423 in 2023. SB 35 provides qualifying housing projects the opportunity to opt-in to a streamlined approval process in jurisdictions that have not adopted a compliant Housing Element or are not meeting State-mandated housing production goals. Some of the preconditions include a minimum percentage of affordable units, labor requirements and consistency with local planning standards. Each year, the State Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) issues an SB 35 determination that indicates which cities are subject to SB 35 (https://www.hcd.ca.gov/planning-and-communitydevelopment/statutory-determinations). 3 of 9
On June 30, 2023, HCD determined that Santa Monica is subject to SB 35 for housing projects that include more than 50% of their units as affordable units. This means that Santa Monica fell behind on addressing lower-income housing needs for the 5th Cycle Housing Element. SB 35 housing projects with more than 50% of their units as affordable units are therefore eligible for a streamlined, ministerial review process that does not require public hearings. As a result, the housing projects must only be reviewed against objective design standards (in addition to compliance with other development standards) and cannot be subject to the City’s standard architectural review process, which is designed to, among other things, prevent the development of structures or uses that are not of acceptable exterior design or appearance, are of inferior quality, or are likely to have a depreciating effect on the local environment or surrounding area by reason of appearance or value; to eliminate conditions, structures, or uses, which by reason of their effect tend to degrade the health, safety, or general welfare of the community. Extending the subject IZO will ensure that the City will continue to have objective design standards in place applicable to SB 35 projects, should an applicant opt into using that process.
Similar to the City’s Administrative Approval (AA) process for housing projects, SB 35’s streamlining process is available to qualifying projects if they meet certain criteria. A comparison of the eligibility criteria for the SB 35 streamlining process as compared to the City’s streamlined AA process is shown in the table below:
Table 1: Comparison of SB 35 Process vs City’s Streamlined Process for Housing Projects SB 35 Streamlining Santa Monica AA Streamlining
Housing Project Type
At least 2 units - At least 2 units
- No more than 33% commercial - No more than 25% commercial - At least 50% on-site affordable to low income
households
- At least 15% on-site affordable per AHPP evenly
distributed across all income categories
- Must be consistent with objective standards
(eligible density bonus/
incentives/concessions/waivers through State
Density Bonus Law (SDBL) permitted)
- Must be consistent with Zoning Ordinance. May
include a variance or modification (eligible density
bonus/incentives/concessions/waivers through
SDBL permitted)
Site Requirements
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SB 35 Streamlining Santa Monica AA Streamlining
- No limit on site size - Cannot be on sites 1 acre or more - Cannot be on a site:
• With prime farmland
• Designated as a hazardous waste site,
unless site cleared for residential use
• With a mobile home park
• With conservation areas/easement or
protected species
• With wetlands
• With a floodplain or floodway
• Within a designated very high fire hazard
severity zone
- No environmental site limitations
- Cannot demolish a historic structure - Cannot demolish a historic structure Prevailing Wage and Labor Requirements
- Prevailing Wage required for projects that are both
11+ units and non-public work
- Skilled and trained workforce requirements for any
project over 85 feet in height
- Healthcare benefits must be provided for projects
with 50 units or more
- None
Tenant Protections
- Project cannot demolish units:
• Occupied by tenants within last 10 years
• Subject to affordable deed restriction
• Subject to any form of local rent or price
control
Consistent with SB 330 state requirements:
- Project cannot reduce the total number of dwelling
units on-site
- Project must replace protected units, which are
units:
• Occupied by low-income tenants within last 5
years
• Subject to affordable deed restriction
• Subject to any form of local rent or price control
• Subject to Ellis Act withdrawal in last 10 years
Source: HCD
Objective Design Standards (ODS) Program
On April 29, 2021, the City of Santa Monica was awarded a grant from the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) through the SCAG Sustainable Communities Program (SCP) program – Housing & Sustainable Development award, which provides direct technical assistance to SCAG member jurisdictions on planning and policy projects. The project seeks to help support participating cities with a greater understanding of the role of objective development and design standards in increasing housing production in Los Angeles County and throughout California. The project scope includes permit streamlining assistance, an online cost estimator tool, and the preparation of objective design standards. AECOM consultants have been assisting the 5 of 9
City on this ODS Project with technical assistance in preparing the proposed SB 35 objective design standards for Council’s consideration.
Staff and AECOM have been developing objective design standards based on the public comments provided during the project’s initial outreach with the community, ARB, and Planning Commission. Below is a brief overview of the public meetings held for the ODS project to date:
• On August 22, 2022, the City hosted a virtual community workshop with approximately 32 participants consisting of community members and stakeholders and provided an introduction to the Objective Design Standards project.
• On September 19, 2022, the Architectural Review Board held a study session on the ODS program and discussed the design features and concepts the Board is most interest in seeing developed in housing projects.
• On October 19, 2022, the Planning Commission held a study session on the introduction of the ODS Program and discussed design principals most important to the overall design of housing projects that should be evaluated as part of the ODS project.
• On October 26, 2023, the City hosted a second virtual community workshop with approximately 38 participants and discussed both SB 35 draft objective design standards and potential BAP conceptual design standards. • On November 6, 2023, the Architectural Review Board held a study session and provided comments on the draft SB 35 design standards and conceptual BAP design standards.
• On November 15, 2023, the Planning Commission held the first of two study sessions on objective design standards. The Commission was presented with and provided comments on draft SB 35 design standards that are the subject of this Emergency IZO currently proposed for City Council consideration. • On November 27, 2023, the City hosted a virtual community roundtable discussion including architects and affordable housing providers on the draft SB 35 objective design standards, with a particular focus on whether the draft 6 of 9
standards would be workable and not present barriers to developing affordable housing projects. Additional feedback received from affordable housing providers during this session has been incorporated into the proposed IZO standards. • On December 6, 2023, the Planning Commission held the second of two study sessions on objective design standards. The Commission was presented with and provided comments on an introduction to conceptual objective design standards for the Bergamot Area Plan (BAP) that will be evaluated in 2024 for possible adoption as part of Housing Element Program 1.E. • On December 19, 2023, Council adopted Emergency Interim Zoning Ordinance 2772 (CCS) authorizing Council to establish, by Resolution, objective design standards for housing projects that qualify for the streamlined, ministerial approval process established by SB 35 housing projects.
The standards were developed with a focus on practicality, constructability, and minimal additional cost so as not to create barriers to housing production.
Discussion
Proposed SB 35 Objective Design Standards
The proposed objective design standards for SB 35 housing projects are not intended to replace existing development or objective design standards already in the zoning code.
Given that these standards apply only to SB 35 housing projects where more than 50% of the units are deed-restricted affordable units, the following objectives guided the creation of additional standards intended to replicate the ARB process:
• No replacement of existing objective design standards in zoning ordinance already extensively discussed throughout Housing Element process • Ensure that proposed standards are not a constraint on housing production • Ensure that proposed standards are within the scope of what the Architectural Review Board would typically review
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The proposed SB 35 standards are based on common design-related issues that the ARB often discusses during its review of housing projects. Also included are standards that address recent changes in the zoning code for housing projects including the removal of restrictions that will allow ground floor residential units in non-residential districts. Additionally, in response to housing projects designing above-grade parking levels to reduce the cost of providing typical subterranean-level parking in density bonus projects, screening standards are proposed that seek to minimize its overall appearance. These objective design standards are provided in Resolution No. 11568 (Attachment B).
Extension of Emergency Interim Zoning Ordinance 2772 (CCS) Santa Monica is currently subject to SB 35 for qualifying housing projects with at least 50% affordable housing. Therefore, the proposed extension of Emergency Interim Zoning Ordinance 2772 (CCS) will authorize Council to establish, by Resolution, the objective design standards for housing projects that qualify for and elect to use the streamlined, ministerial approval process established by SB 35. Resolution No.11568 as adopted by Council on December 19, 2023 establishing the objective design review standards that will be applicable to qualifying projects will be maintained and unchanged as adopted. While staff has conducted multiple study sessions and community engagement on the proposed standards, the EIZO and Resolution allow the SB 35 objective design standards to be revisited for improvements upon further evaluation as necessary.
Because housing projects that opt in to the streamlined, ministerial approval process are only reviewed against objective design standards (in addition to compliance with other development standards) and are not subject to the City’s standard architectural review process, without objective design standards in place, housing projects could be approved without any design review that is intended to promote the public health, safety, and general welfare of the community.
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Environmental Analysis
The proposed approval of the EIZO extending the interim zoning ordinance that creates the mechanism to establish objective design standards for qualifying SB 35 projects is exempt from the provisions of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to Section 15061(b)(3) of the CEQA Guidelines (common sense exemption).
Based on the evidence in the record, it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that the proposed interim ordinance may have a significant effect on the environment. The proposed ordinance is administrative and regulatory in nature in that it creates the mechanism to establish objective design standards by resolution to ensure that future SB 35 projects will be subject to design review consistent with SB 35. The extension of the interim zoning ordinance would not alter development standards for housing projects previously analyzed as part of the 2021-2029 6th Cycle Housing Element Environmental Impact Report (EIR) [SCH No. 20212269242021] that was certified by Council on October 12, 2021, with an Addendum to the EIR approved on October 11, 2022. Therefore, no further environmental review under CEQA is required.
Past Meetings
Meeting Date Description
12/19/23 Introduction and adoption of an Emergency Interim Zoning Ordinance authorizing Council to establish, by Resolution, objective design standards for housing projects that qualify for the streamlined, ministerial approval process established by SB 35 housing projects
Financial Impacts and Budget Actions
There is no immediate financial impact or budget action necessary as a result of the recommended action. Staff will return to Council if specific budget actions are required in the future.
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Prepared By: Steve Mizokami, Principal Planner
Approved Forwarded to Council
Attachments:
A. ODS Emergency IZO Extension Ordinance
B. Resolution No.11568 (CCS) (12-19-23)
C. Council Staff Report ODS (12-19-23) - Web Link