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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAGENDA REPORT 2005 1019 CC REG ITEM 09BTO: FROM: DATE: MOORPARK CITY COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT Honorable City Council ITEM q'b 15 0 CITY OF MOORPARK, CALIFORNIA City Council Meeting of /0 - /9 -05' _ ACTION: --A t­0 9A&A4dt;6 16 mss" Barry K. Hogan, Community Development Director Prepared By: David A. Bobardt, Planning Manager 10 October 14, 2005 (CC Meeting of 10/19/2005) SUBJECT: Consider an Interim Urgency Ordinance Making Findings and Establishing a Temporary Moratorium on Development in Non - Residential Zones of the Downtown Specific Plan Overlay Zone and on Decreased Parking Requirements in the Downtown Area. BACKGROUND In 1998, the City enacted, via Ordinance 247, the Downtown Specific Plan Overlay Zone, currently codified in Municipal Code Chapter 17.72. Staff is now concerned with two aspects of the design guidelines and regulations for the non - residential zones of the Downtown Specific Plan, and is proposing a moratorium on development in the non - residential zones of the Downtown Specific Plan and on the use of reduced parking standards in the downtown area. This would allow for City Council to consider these concerns before additional building permits are issued. DISCUSSION Quality of Design The first concern of staff is that, as the non - residential zones in downtown area evolve, the design guidelines and other standards in Chapter 17.72 of the Municipal Code may not ensure the quality of design anticipated when the Specific Plan was adopted. Without the reevaluation of these design guidelines and other standards, the City may miss a rare opportunity to encourage the development of a vibrant commercial district in its downtown core. Staff believes that the area could be better served if there were more clarity in the design guidelines and 000004 Honorable City Council October 19, 2005 Page 2 stringent development requirements, and that a moratorium should be imposed until such guidelines and requirements can be enacted. Parking The second concern is that the downtown area will not have enough parking absent new regulations. City Municipal Code section 17.32.010 requires that for any "new uses and for enlargement of existing uses" an applicant provide parking based upon specific criteria. Generally, larger establishments are required to provide more parking than smaller establishments. Municipal Code Section 17.32.025, however, provides that new and enlarged uses in the "downtown area" (as defined in Section 17.40.020 of the Municipal Code) need meet only "one -half the standards required pursuant to Section 17.32.010." In addition, these uses can buy out of their parking requirement through payment of an in -lieu fee. Staff is concerned that the continuation of the special treatment for the downtown area may be detrimental to the downtown area as a whole, as it will exacerbate the future insufficiency of parking. Moratorium Implications Pursuant to Government Code § 65858, with a 4/5 vote, the City Council may enact the attached interim urgency ordinance, which would place a 45 -day moratorium on issuance of discretionary permits (i.e. variances, conditional use permits, administrative permits, planned development permits, etc.) in the non- residential zones of the Downtown Specific Plan and also a moratorium on the use of the parking reduction permitted for the downtown area. There are various reasons that the City may consider enacting such a moratorium. First, the City will need time to complete factual research, and to recommend actions based upon that research. Specifically, the City will need time to determine the potential effects of such enactments upon property owners, the effect upon the public, the extent to which new design guidelines, development standards, and more stringent parking requirements are necessary, and whether such new regulations could cause an undue burden upon the property owners within the Overlay Zone. Additionally, once the factual research is completed, staff will need time to prepare any special plan amendments, ordinance, or 000005 Honorable City Council October 19, 2005 Page 3 other such enactment. In addition, time is also needed to prepare and notice any potential general plan amendments, specific plan amendments, ordinances, and /or City Council meetings. The City Council would also need time to deliberate on potential amendments. Second, the City would need time to complete legal research, and to recommend actions based upon the legal conclusions reached. For example, the City will need to complete a thorough review of the Downtown Specific Plan Overlay Zone, and to determine whether the various amendments contemplated might have additional impacts on other matters. City staff would need time to prepare any recommendations relating to necessary amendments. The City Council would need time to deliberate on any potential findings or recommended actions. Under state law, an initial moratorium may be adopted by a 4/5 vote of the Council, but can only last for 45 days. Thus, if adopted, this initial Ordinance would terminate on Saturday, December 3, 2005. If the City staff is not able to recommend a course of action to the City Council prior to December 3, 2005, prior to that date, the staff will present to the City Council an ordinance to allow the City Council to extend the moratorium for as long as it deems necessary, as long as the moratorium does not extend for a period longer than an additional 22 months and 15 days. Prior to adoption of such an extension ordinance, there must be a public hearing. Staff would not be able to complete the recommended work prior to the expiration of this initial moratorium. However, a schedule and recommendation on extension could be provided prior to the end of the 45 days. STAFF RECOMMENDATION (ROLL CALL VOTE 4 /5TH AFFIRMATION) 1. Adopt Interim Ordinance No. ; and 2. Schedule and notice a public hearing for November 16, 2005, to extend the Interim Ordinance. Attachment: Ordinance 00, 00OG ORDINANCE NO. AN INTERIM URGENCY ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF MOORPARK, CALIFORNIA, MAKING FINDINGS AND ESTABLISHING A TEMPORARY MORATORIUM ON THE USE OF DECREASED DOWNTOWN PARKING REQUIREMENTS AND ON ALL PROPOSED DISCRETIONARY LAND USE APPROVALS IN THE NON - RESIDENTIAL ZONES OF THE DOWNTOWN SPECIFIC PLAN OVERLAY ZONE THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF MOORPARK DOES ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. Findings A. The City desires to improve the public safety, health and welfare of the residents and visitors to the City of Moorpark ( "City "). B. One means of doing so is to foster the creation of a vibrant downtown area. C. In 1998, the City created the Downtown Specific Plan Overlay Zone ( "Overlay Zone "). This section, now codified in Municipal Code Chapter 17.72, no longer fully reflects the needs of the public. Since that time, the actual uses within the City have changed, and the public desires and needs have changed along with the actual changes. D. The City is currently considering revising the Overlay Zone to more fully reflect these needs. There are numerous requirements that the City will consider amending. For example, the new Overlay Zone might have substantially different design guidelines and more specific development requirements and different parking standards. These are just some of changes that will be considered. E. If the City continues to approve additional subdivisions, conditional use permits, planned development permits, variances, administrative permits, or any other applicable discretionary entitlement consistent with the current requirements in the non - residential zones of the Downtown Specific Plan, each new entitlement would be granting a right to use property in a manner which may not reflect the needs of the community. As such, if the City fails to enact this moratorium immediately, all new discretionary entitlements granted within the Overlay Zone will create a current and immediate threat to the public health, safety and welfare. F. In addition to more specific design standards and guidelines, a second major method to foster a vibrant downtown area is to ensure the existence of a sufficient number of parking spaces. G. Section 17.32.010 of the City's Municipal Code establishes the minimum parking standards for any new use and for the enlargement of any existing use. Municipal Code Section 17.32.025, however, indicates that parking in the downtown area need meet only one half of the standards required in other parts of the city by Section 17.32.010 and that the parking requirement could be bought out through payment of an in -lieu fee. 00'©00% Ordinance No. Page 2 H. Permitting development to occur in the downtown area without sufficient parking is a current and immediate threat to the public health, safety and welfare. If there is insufficient parking, drivers will spend more time driving to look for parking. This, in turn, will create additional traffic, create more pollution, decrease emergency response times, and lessen the overall enjoyment and usability of the downtown area. If the City failed to impose this moratorium, these threats to the public health, safety and welfare will become reality. I. The City Council intends to study whether to and to what extent the parking requirements in the downtown area should be revised. J. Any new development in the Overlay Zone which is either residential in character or only requires a non - discretionary permit, will not conflict with currently contemplated amendments, because the City is not currently considering amending the Overlay Zone in that manner. However, all other proposed new or expanded uses in the Overlay Zone may be in conflict with contemplated changes to the Overlay Zone. K. Any reliance on the parking requirements within Municipal Code Section 17.32.025 would also conflict with the potential new regulations. SECTION 2. Imposition of Moratorium A. In accordance with the authority granted to the City of Moorpark by Government Code Section 65858, and pursuant to the findings stated herein, from and after the date of this ordinance, no building permit shall be approved if either: 1. The project is in an non - residential zone of the Downtown Specific Plan and the building permit requires a discretionary permit or exception under Section 17.44.040 of the Municipal Code and the discretionary permit or exception has not been approved prior to the effective date of this ordinance. "Non- residential" zones means the following six zones: Office (C -O), Old Town Commercial (C -OT), Neighborhood Commercial (C -1), Commercial Planned Development (C -PD), Institutional (I), and Industrial Park /Light Industrial (M -1); or 2. The application relies upon Municipal Code Section 17.32.025 to meet parking requirements. This prohibition shall not prevent, however, an applicant from receiving an entitlement where the applicant expressly waives the standards listed within Section 17.32.025, and instead complies with the requirements of City Municipal Code Section 17.32.010. B. This ordinance is an interim urgency ordinance adopted pursuant to the authority granted to the City of Moorpark by Government Code Section 65858, and is for the immediate preservation of the public health, safety, and welfare. SECTION 3. Compliance with California Environmental Quality Act 01(,* U V(1 Ordinance No. Page 3 The City Council finds that this ordinance is not subject to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to Sections 15060(c)(2) (the activity will not result in a direct or reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment) and 15060(c) (3) (the activity is not a project as defined in Section 15378) of the CEQA Guidelines, California Code of Regulations, Title 14, Chapter 3, because it has no potential for resulting in physical change to the environment, directly or indirectly; it prevents changes in the environment pending the completion of the contemplated municipal code review. SECTION 4. Severability If any provision of this ordinance or the application thereof to any person or circumstance is held invalid, such invalidity shall not affect other provisions or applications of the ordinance which can be given effect without the invalid provision or application, and to this end the provisions of this ordinance are severable. The City Council hereby declares that it would have adopted this ordinance irrespective of the invalidity of any particular portion thereof. SECTION 5. Effective Date Consistent with Government Code 65858, this ordinance shall become effective immediately upon adoption if adopted by at a least four - fifths vote of the City Council and shall be in effect for forty -five (45) days from the date of adoption unless extended by the City Council as provided for in the Government Code. SECTION 6. Publication The City Clerk shall certify to the passage and adoption of this ordinance; shall enter the same in the book of original ordinances of said City; shall make a minute of the passage and adoption thereof in the records of the proceedings of the City Council at which the same is passed and adopted; and shall, within fifteen (15) days after the passage and adoption thereof, cause the same to be published once in the Moorpark Star a newspaper of general circulation, as defined in Section 6008 of the Government Code, for the City of Moorpark, and which is hereby designated for that purpose. PASSED AND ADOPTED this 19th day of October, 2005. Patrick Hunter, Mayor ATTEST: Deborah S. Traffenstedt, City Clerk