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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAGENDA REPORT 1994 0907 CC REG ITEM 09DITEM Cl" Z MEMORANDUM Cj 7, �+ TO: The City Council FROM: Jaime Aguilera, Director of Community Development -�`'- Paul Porter, Senior Planne DATE: May 12, 1994 (CC meeting of September 7, 1994) SUBJECT: CONSIDER ZONING ORDINANCE AMENDMENTS TO MODIFY SEC. - 8111 -2 ENTITLEMENT TO CREATE A DIRECTOR OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT APPROVED ADMINISTRATIVE PERMIT FOR 1) SECOND DWELLING UNITS; 2) SECOND FLOOR PATIO DECKS; AND 3) ACCESSORY STRUCTURES GREATER THAN 120 SQUARE FEET AND ROOM ADDITIONS Background On April 6, 1994, the City Council adopted a Resolution directing the Planning Commission to study, hold a public hearing, and recommend to the City Council modifications to the City's Zoning Ordinance relating to Director of Community Development Approved Administrative Permits in order to better regulate the uses in question for the benefit of the citizens of Moorpark. The Planning Commission held a public hearing to discuss this matter on May 9, 1994. Discussion Several months ago, the City Council instructed staff to prepare a policy that would serve as a means to allow Homeowner Associations (HOAs) and neighbors to be notified of certain construction projects in their neighborhood. The projects in question were: * Second dwelling units * Second floor patio decks * Accessory structures, greater than 120 square feet * Room additions The City previously had an informal policy which required that Homeowners Associations and surrounding property owners of a project be notified of a project and have the ability to make comments to staff before a final determination was made. The following examples are recent cases relating to this issue: 1. Ms. Lori Rutter had complained that Zone homes could not be issued without firs property owners and that in any case aggrieved party could appeal a Director's a zoning clearance. PP05:12 :9419:46aaa:\CC.jmx 1 Clearance(s) for new t notifying adjacent she or any other decision to approve N ` 199 ACTION: C -( oy The Council received advice from the City Attorney indicating that ministerial (Zoning Clearances) actions could not be conditioned or appealed. However, Zone Clearances were determined to be discretionary actions under the then applicable language. The Zoning Ordinance was subsequently amended to exclude the appeals process for Zoning Clearance decisions by other than the applicant. 2. Mr. and Mrs. O'Donnel's Zone Clearance was originally approved. The City then denied it when the HOA changed their decision. The Zone Clearance(s) was subsequently approved when it was discovered that the denial letter from the HOA came from the property manager and not the architectural review committee. In subsequent discussions with the City Attorney, she has made it very clear that the City cannot deny a Zone Clearance based on HOA or homeowners' complaints. When the Council revised the Zoning Ordinance regarding second dwelling units, it deleted the Conditional Use Permit requirement and asked staff to develop a method to notify and allow comments by adjacent property owners. Staff is proposing that modifications to the Zoning Ordinance be made allowing certain projects be subject to a Director approved Administrative Permit. This would have the effect of making those projects discretionary and subject to conditions, and a sixteen day appeal period before the Director's decision is considered final. This includes a notification process to property owners within a 300 foot radius of the applicant's property. The Planning Commission desired to have a 100 foot notification to surrounding property owners, but the decision was made to have a 300 foot notification to surrounding property owners on the basis that State law requires a minimum 300 foot notice to property owners. The following modifications to the City's Zoning Ordinance were recommended to the City Council by the Planning Commission at the public hearing on this issue on May 9, 1994. PROPOSED ORDINANCE MODIFICATIONS Sec. 8111 -2 - ENTITLEMENT Sec. 8111 -2.1 - Discretionary Permits - Entitlement authorized by this Chapter include the following: Sec. 8111 -2.1.1 - Types of Discretionary Permits - a. Planned Development (PD) Permit - A Planned Development Permit is a permit based on a discretionary decision required prior to initiation of specified uses and structures PP05s12r94 19s46aMz\CC.X= 2 which are allowed as a matter of right, but which are subject to site plan review and which may be conditioned in order to assure compliance with the requirements of this Chapter and with the purposes of the applicable zone. Planned Development Permits may be granted by the administrative hearing process, or by the Planning Commission or City Council through a public hearing process. This includes Industrial Planned Development (IPD), Residential Planned Development (RPD) and Commercial Planned Development (CPD) b. Conditional Use Permit (CUP) - A Conditional Use Permit is a permit based on a discretionary decision required prior to initiation of particular uses not allowed as a matter of right. Such permits are subject to site plan review and may be conditioned at the time of a hearing. Such permits may be denied on the grounds of unsuitable location, or may be conditioned in order to be approved. Conditional Use Permits may be granted through a public hearing process by the City Council or the Planning Commission. Except for projects initiated by a City agency or department, applications for City Council - approved Conditional Use Permits shall first be reviewed by the Planning Commission. C. Temporary Special Use Permit - The Director of Community Development may authorize, by Zone Clearance, a use or structure for a temporary period of time (not to exceed 90 days without additional approval of the Director of Community Development) where a delay incident to the normal processing of an application would be detrimental to the applicant or the public. The Director of Community Development may grant additional 90 day extensions to the Temporary Special Use Permit. Temporary Use Permits shall be considered a discretionary permit and as such may be conditioned so as to not be physically detrimental to the health, safety, life, or property of the applicant or the public. Examples of Temporary Use Permits are special events such as Christmas tree sales, promotional parking lot sales, church carnivals, Country Days, and sidewalk sales. These permits may be reviewed by other affected agencies prior to approval. The purpose of the review is to determine if such PPO5 :12 :94 19:46aM:\CC.MM 3 a requested use is in any way a problem as it relates to the adjacent uses. A Temporary Use Permit may be revoked by the Approving Authority prior to the expiration date based upon information that the conditions have not been complied with, or other justifiable reason as determined by the approving authority. Since the Planning Commission of May 9, 1994, staff sent the proposed amendment to the City Attorney for review. On June 6, 1994, the City Attorney indicated that the Ordinance was in acceptable form, but that proposed subsection "d" was incongruent with the remainder of Section 8111 - 2.1.1, which describes the types of "discretionary permits ". Pursuant to the City Attorney's comment, staff has amended the appropriate sections of the Ordinance which are attached to this report for the Council's information and review. The following proposed Ordinance changes make the above captioned Ordinance Amendment congruent with Section 8111 - 2.1.1: PP05:I2:94 19:46aM:\CC.mw 4 1. Section 8105 is to be changed to require an Administrative Permit for: 1) second dwelling units; 2) second floor patio decks; 3) accessory structures greater than 120 square feet; and 4) room additions (see attached). 2. Modify Section 8106 -5 to state: Sec. 8106 -5.10 - Decks - When constructed at or below the level of the first floor of the building, a deck may extend into required side or rear setbacks, but may not occupy more than 40 percent of a required rear setback, nor be located closer than three feet to a side or rear property line. Two story homes proposing a second floor deck or balcony are subject to the same setback requirements as the main residence with the exception that the required rear yard setback for the second story balcony or deck shall not be less than ten (10) feet and the sideyard setback shall not be less than ten (10) feet. The color and the materials of the second story deck shall complement those of the main structure. fel1ewin amenta apply. The— resgeese evens— }qnateres shall be -s-ered stating that the preperty ewners have been netifled Maximum height shall be twelve (12) feet, not including railing height. 3. Add Sec. 8111 -2.1.1 d to state: PP05:12:94 19:46amA : \CC.xM 5 Fiscal Impact Staff estimates the average the processing of a Community Development Approved Administrative Permit will require approximately five hours of staff time. This would equate to $390.00 in staff costs. Staff intends to request the City Council to amend the fee resolution to establish a deposit for $390 to cover estimated staff costs for processing an Administrative Permit. As part of the budget process, staff informed the Council that we would relate to you to costs of processing the work product. In this case, staf f has spent 18 hours on this item and expects to spend an additional 5 hours to finalize the process. This equates to $1,794 @ $78.00 /hour. Notification to Planning Commission and City Council of Director's Decision to Approve or Deny Permit It is staff's intention to notify the City Council by box item of the Director's action to either approve or deny an Administrative Permit. The City Council would have 16 days from the Director's action to appeal the decision. Recommendations 1. Open the public hearing, and take public testimony and close the public hearing. 2. Determine the adoption of the Ordinance and implementing the attached ordinance is not a project under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to Section 15061 (b) (3) in that there is no possibility that the activity in question will have a significant effect on the environment. 3. Introduce the Ordinance for first reading. Attachment: Draft Ordinance PP05:12:94 19:46aM: \CC.)M 6