Agenda Item 11
CITY OF YUCAIPA
AGENDA REPORT
TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council
FROM: Fermin Preciado, Director of Development Services/City Engirer.
Benjamin J. Matlock, Planning Manager/City PI
Madeline Jordan, Associate Planner
FOR: City Council Meeting of November 28, 2022
SUBJECT: Adoption of Urgency Ordinance No. 418-U, extending Ordinance No. 404-U, which was previously extended by Ordinance No. 405-U, and established interim standards for the implementation of S139.
RECOMMENDATION:
That the City Council conduct a public hearing and approve Urgency Ordinance No. 418-U, which will extend Ordinance No. 404-U (previously extended as Ordinance No. 405-U), an urgency ordinance related to the regulation of urban lot splits and second dwelling units associated with the implementation of Senate Bill 9 (S139) and making findings regarding the urgency thereof (4/5 VOTES REQUIRED).
BACKGROUND:
Senate Bill 9 (S139) is a new housing law that was signed by Governor Newsom on September 16, 2021, and became effective on January 1, 2022. This bill requires a proposed urban lot split or housing development containing no more than two (2) residential units within a single-family residential zone to be considered ministerially, meaning a project reviewed and approved at staff level and without a discretionary review or hearing (i.e. Planning Commission), if the proposed housing development meets certain requirements.
S139 allows a local agency to impose objective zoning, design, and subdivision standards unless those standards would have the effect of physically precluding the construction of two (2) residential units on either of the resulting subdivided parcels or physically precluding either of the two (2) units from being at least 800 square feet in floor area.
The bill also requires that any units developed under these regulations be rented for more than 30 consecutive days and applicants of urban lot splits must sign an affidavit stating that they intend to occupy one (1) of the housing units as their principal residence for a minimum of three (3) years from the date of the approval of the urban lot split.
Since S139 was signed into law, a variety of property owners throughout the City have reached out to Planning Division staff and expressed interest in the potential opportunities that may now be permitted for their property. Further, the UC Berkeley Terner Center for Housing Innovation -227-
City of Yucaipa (Case No. 21-203/DCA — Ordinance 418-U) City Council Meeting of November 28, 2022
published an analysis of S139 in July of 2021 (Terner Report) ( https://temercenter.berkeley.edu/blog/duplexes-lot-split-sb-9/) . Their work concluded that of the
7.5 million available single-family housing parcels, 714,000, or approximately 8% of available lots, would be market feasible under S139, and also included a city -by -city analysis. For the City of Yucaipa, 1,100 units may be market -feasible for development under these new provisions. It should be noted that the Terner Report acknowledges that in most cases, these units may take years to be developed, and some may never get built. However, based on that analysis, along with the interest received thus far, developing appropriate measures that comply with state law, yet mitigate the potential issues of the law will be an important consideration. Further, staff has been working with the development community to develop appropriate standards and conditions to ensure that new subdivisions continue to maintain the single-family neighborhood design that was intended by the developer.
Due to the short turnaround time from when S139 was signed by Governor Newsom and its effective date of January 1, 2022, the ability to develop and provide a complete ordinance that met all the legal noticing requirements, including the public hearing with the Planning Commission, City Council, second reading, and 30-day referendum period was simply not feasible. As a result, staff developed an urgency ordinance pursuant to Government Code Section 65658 that provided a stopgap measure to maintain local control to the extent feasible between when the state law went into effect and a formal ordinance could be prepared, adopted, and ultimately implemented by the City. Urgency Ordinance (Ordinance No. 404-U), which provided interim measures for S139 was presented and approved by the City Council at the regular meeting of December 13, 2021.
Pursuant to state law, an urgency ordinance shall be in effect for 45 days, and may subsequently be extended by the City Council for an additional 10 months and 15 days during that period.
Ordinance 404-U remained in effect until January 27, 2022, but prior to its expiration was extended through Ordinance No. 405-U at the regular meeting of January 24, 2022.
DISCUSSION:
Ordinance 405-U currently remains in effect until December 12, 2022; however, consistent with state law, the City Council may extend the original urgency ordinance (Ordinance No. 404-U) for a second and final time period not to exceed one (1) year. Pursuant to Government Code Section 65858, a written report has also been prepared describing the measures taken to alleviate the condition which led to the adoption of the ordinance (attached).
While staff has continued to work towards developing a permanent ordinance to implement S139, additional time is still needed to best evaluate the appropriate implementation of this new law. In particular, the Planning Department is anticipating the submittal and subsequent processing of the city's first SB9 project, which will serve as a metric to gauge baseline conditions, and where certain preliminary objective development standards may need additional attention and clarification prior to adopting permanent S139 standards. Further, following the completion of the city's first S139 project, staff will return to City Council to provide an S139 Ordinance progress update.
In an effort to best ensure the orderly development of residential properties within the city that pursue S139 projects, the approval of this final extension (Ordinance No. 418-U) will ultimately -228-
City of Yucaipa (Case No. 21-203/DCA — Ordinance 418-U) City Council Meeting of November 28, 2022
give staff the opportunity to seek final direction from the City Council in regard to existing S139 standards and processes and procedures which were preliminarily established through the approval of Urgency Ordinance 404 after the city's first S139 project has been processed.
Environmental Review
The state law includes a provision that explicitly states that an ordinance to implement Senate Bill 9 (California Government Code Section 65852.21) shall not be considered a project under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and, therefore, is not subject to environmental review. Further, future projects completed under S139 would be a ministerial action and exempt from CEQA.
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no direct fiscal impact as a result of this Council action regarding the Development Code Amendments. However, the ability to collect Development Impact Fees (DIFs) would remain, and any subsequent units developed would be required to pay their "fair share" contribution consistent with the current Development Impact Fee Program in order to mitigate their impacts on traffic, drainage, parks, fire services, policies services, and public facilities.
Attachments: Ordinance No. 418-U
2nd Report on Urban Lot Split and Second Unit Review
Approved by:
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URGENCY ORDINANCE NO.418-U
AN EXTENSION OF AN URGENCY ORDINANCE OF THE
CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF YUCAIPA ADOPTING
EMERGENCY REGULATIONS RELATED TO URBAN LOT
SPLITS AND HOUSING UNITS BUILT IN ACCORDANCE
WITH SENATE BILL 9 AND DECLARING THE URGENCY
THEREOF
WHEREAS, during the 2021 legislative session, the California Legislature passed, and the Governor signed Senate Bill 9 (SB 9), which requires local agencies to ministerially approve urban lot splits and development of two residential units per single family residential lot provided the projects meet certain criteria. SB 9 became effective on January 1, 2022; and, WHEREAS, SB 9 projects will have the potential to significantly impact the character of the City's well established single family neighborhoods; and, WHEREAS, on December 13, 2021, the City Council adopted Urgency Ordinance No. 404-U to establish objective standards for SB 9 projects in single family residential zones; and, WHEREAS, on January 24, 2022, the City Council adopted Urgency Ordinance No. 405- U extending Urgency Ordinance No. 404-U for an additional ten months and 15 days, such that the provisions of Ordinance No. 404-U would expire on December 13, 2022; and, WHEREAS, the City intends to continue to study and formulate permanent regulations for the implementation of SB 9 projects in the City. This process may be lengthy and because of the further increase of split lots and new units built on these lots, the City Council wishes to further extend the provisions of Urgency Ordinance No. 404-U for an additional one year period through December 13, 2023, pursuant to Government Code Section 65858, and preserve limits on development of units constructed under SB 9 while permanent standards are studied and formulated; and,
WHEREAS, SB 9 projects have the potential to impact the health, safety, and welfare of residents in the City, and particularly on the character of single family residential neighborhoods, the rural quality of the community, vehicular and pedestrian safety, and on -street parking demand.
As such, the City of Yucaipa City Council finds that there is an immediate need to continue the applicability of the Urgency Ordinance's objective zoning and subdivision standards for SB 9 projects in order to protect the public health, safety, and welfare while it studies permanent land use regulations for such projects and to ensure SB 9 projects do not have a detrimental impact on single family residential neighborhoods within the City while permanent regulations are being studied. This process may be lengthy and therefore the City Council wishes to extend Urgency Ordinance No. 404-U, which extension ordinance will take effect immediately to ensure that the health, safety and welfare is not impacted by SB 9 projects while permanent regulations are studied, formulated, and adopted.
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NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF YUCAIPA DOES ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Authority. Pursuant to Government Code Section 65858, the City Council may, to protect the public safety, health, and welfare, adopt, as an urgency measure, an interim ordinance that prohibits certain developments that may be in conflict with a contemplated zoning proposal that the City Council is considering, studying or intends to study within a reasonable period of time. After public notice, the City Council may extend the interim ordinance by a period of ten (10) months and fifteen (15) days, and then subsequently extend the ordinance for one (1) additional year. Notice of the public hearing at which the City Council considered adopting this extension ordinance was duly published in accordance with the legal requirements.
The City Council finds and determines that there is a potential for an immediate threat to public health, safety, and welfare from SB 9 development projects that do not conform with certain objective standards established by the City because of the potential of SB 9 development projects to have a detrimental impact on single family residential neighborhoods in the City, as mentioned in the foregoing recitals, which are incorporated herein by reference. Therefore, under the authority of Government Code Section 65858, the City Council hereby further extends Urgency Ordinance No. 404-U prohibiting SB 9 projects that fail to comply with certain standards for an additional one year, through December 13, 2023, in order to protect the public health, safety, and welfare, while the City studies permanent standards for SB 9 development projects.
SECTION 2. CEOA Findings. The City Council hereby finds that it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility the adoption of this Ordinance will have a significant adverse effect on the environment, given the fact that no specific development is contemplated at this time, and the ordinance is only establishing regulations for future development if proposed pursuant to SB 9. Further, development that would be contemplated under this ordinance must be treated ministerially, and any such projects would be statutorily exempt from the environmental review requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to Sections 15061(b)(3) and 15268 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations, as separate and independent bases for exemption.
SECTION 3. Effective Date. This Ordinance is adopted as an urgency ordinance for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health and safety pursuant to Government Code Section 65858, and therefore shall be passed immediately upon its introduction and shall become effective immediately upon its adoption by a minimum 4/5 vote of the City Council and shall amend and extend the effect of Urgency Ordinance 404-U for a final extension period of one year through December 13, 2023.
SECTION 4. Uncodified. This Urgency Ordinance shall not be codified.
SECTION 5. Severability. The City Council declares that, should any section, subsection, subdivision, sentence, clause, phrase, or portion of this Urgency Ordinance for any reason be held invalid or unconstitutional by the decision of any court of competent jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this Urgency Ordinance.
The City Council hereby declares that it would have adopted this Urgency Ordinance and each section, subsection, subdivision, sentence, clause, phrase, or portion thereof, irrespective of the -231-
fact that any one or more sections, subsections, subdivisions, sentences, clauses, phrases, or portions thereof be declared invalid or unconstitutional.
SECTION 6. Certification and Publication. The City Clerk shall certify to the adoption of this Urgency Ordinance and shall cause it to be published in the manner required by law.
PASSED, APPROVED, AND ADOPTED this day of 12022.
ATTEST:
JENNIFER CRAWFORD, CITY CLERK
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
David Snow, City Attorney
DAVID AVILA, MAYOR
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2nd Report on Urban Lot Split and Second Unit Review - Urgency Ordinance 404-U At the regular meeting of December 13, 2021, the City Council adopted Urgency Ordinance No. 404-U establishing interim standards for the implementation of SB9 for an initial period of 45 days. Senate Bill 9 (SB9) is a new housing law that was signed by Governor Newsom on September 16, 2021 and became effective on January 1, 2022. This bill requires a proposed urban lot split or housing development containing no more than two (2) residential units within a single-family residential zone to be considered ministerially, meaning a project reviewed and approved at staff level and without a discretionary review or hearing, if the proposed housing development meets certain requirements. To that end, the Urgency Ordinance was prepared pursuant to Government Code Section 65658 to provide a stopgap measure that maintains local control to the extent feasible between when the state law goes into effect and to allow time for the City to review and prepare a formal ordinance that will be adopted and implemented. Subsequently, at the regular meeting of January 24, 2022, the City Council adopted the first extension of Urgency Ordinance 404-U, as Ordinance No. 405-U, for a period of 10 months and 15-days to allow the City to continue to study permanent standards for SB9 development projects.
Pursuant to Government Code Section 65858, an Urgency Ordinance may be extended further by the City Council for a final one (1) year period following the issuance of a written report from the City describing the measures taken to alleviate the condition which led to the adoption of the ordinance. These measures are as follows:
• Assessing Ordinance structure and Development Code sections to implement SB9 • Developing Objective Design Criteria to address second unit projects and urban lot splits • Considering locations of the City that may be exempted from SB9 due to specific constraints identified pursuant to State Law
• Surveying inquiries received from property owners to better gauge the types of requests that may be received and ensure the Ordinance addresses these issues • Anticipating the processing of the first SB9 project submittal, which will serve as a metric to gauge baseline conditions, and where certain standards may need additional attention and clarification prior to adopting permanent standards
To provide adequate time for the City to explore these and other potential options, it is requested that the City Council adopt an extension of Urgency Ordinance 404-U (Ordinance No. 418-U) for a final one (1) year period. Following City Council approval and adoption, Ordinance No. 404-U will expire on December 12, 2023.
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