HomeMy WebLinkAboutOrdinance 2244 N.C.S. 05/15/2006 EFFECTIVE DATE ORDINANCE NO. 2244 N.C.S.
OF ORDINANCE
May 15, 2006
1 Introduced by Seconded by
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4 Mike Healy David Glass
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8 AN INTERIM URGENCY ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PETALUMA
9 PURSUANT TO GOVERNMENT CODE SECTION 65858 EXTENDING FOR A PERIOD OFTEN
10 MONTHS AND FIFTEEN DAYS INTERIM URGENCY ORDINANCE NO. 2239 N.C.S. PROHIBITING
11 THE ISSUANCE OF BUILDING PERMITS IN THE 100-YEAR FLOOD PLAIN DEPICTED IN THE 1989
12 FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY FLOOD INSURANCE RATE MAP AND
13 UPSTREAM OF THE CONSTRICTION WEIR OF THE ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS FLOOD
14 CONTROL PROJECT
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16 WHEREAS, the Federal Emergency Management Agency ("FEMA") issued in 1989 a Flood
17 Insurance Rate Map ("FIRM") depicting a 100 Year Flood Plain in the City of Petaluma ("City");
18 and,
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20 WHEREAS, "100 Year Flood Plain," as that term is used by the FEMA National Flood
21 insurance Program, refers to the area subject to flooding with a 1 percent chance of occurrence
22 each year; and,
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24 WHEREAS, on December 31, 2005, a number of Sonoma County cities, and communities,
25 including the City, experienced flooding events; and,
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27 WHEREAS, the estimated total cost of public and private damage due to flooding in
28 Petaluma on December 31, 2005 has been estimated at approximately $55 million, as reflected
29 in initial damages estimates submitted to the Sonoma County Office of Emergency Services;
30 and,
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32 WHEREAS, flooding such as occurred in the City on December 31, 2005 threatens the
33 safety of residents and their real and personal property, commercial property and inventory,
34 continued operation of businesses, economic development, employment of City workers, the
35 availability of goods and services, tax revenue and other public and private revenue generation
36 and the City economy generally, public facilities, infrastructure and services, including
37 emergency services, safe transportation, and other critical and necessary aspects of life and
38 work in the City necessary to its continued health, vitality and growth; and,
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40 WHEREAS, Article XI, Section 5 of the California Constitution provides that it shall be
41 competent in any city charter to provide that the city governed there under may make and
42 enforce all ordinances and regulation in respect to municipal affairs subject only to restrictions
Ordinance No. 2244 N.C.S. Page 1
1 and limitations provided in their several charters and in respect to other matters they shall be
2 subject to the general laws; and,
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4 WHEREAS, Section 54 of Article VIII of the Petaluma Charter provides that the City, by and
5 through its council and other officials shall have and may exercise all powers necessary or
6; appropriate to the municipal corporation and the general welfare of its inhabitants, which are
7 not prohibited by the constitution and which it would be competent for the charter to set forth
8 particularly or specifically, and the specification of any particular powers shall not be held to be
9 exclusive or any limitation on the general grant of powers; and,
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11 WHEREAS, California Government Code Section 65858, subdivision (a) provides: that city
12 legislative bodies may, to protect public safety, health and welfare, adopt as an urgency
13 measure an interim ordinance prohibiting any uses that may be in conflict with a contemplated
14 general plan, specific plan, or zoning proposal that the legislative body is considering or studying
15 or intends to study within a reasonable time; that adoption of such urgency measures requires a
16 four-fifths vote of the legislative body; that such measures shall be of no effect 45 days from the
17 date of adoption, and may be extended a maximum of two times and have a maximum total
18 duration of 2 years; and,
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20 WHEREAS, California Government Code Section 65858, subdivision (c) provides: that
21 legislative bodies may not adopt or extend such interim ordinances unless they contain findings
22 that there is a current and immediate threat to the public health, safety, or welfare, and that the
23 approval of additional entitlements would result in that threat to the public health, safety or
24 welfare; and,
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26 WHEREAS, in accordance with California Government Code Section 65858, subdivision
27 (c), which provides that such interim ordinances that have the effect of denying approvals
28 needed for the development of projects with a significant component of multifamily housing (as
r. 29 defined in California Government Code Section 65858, subdivisions (g) and (h)) may not be
30 extended except upon written findings adopted by the legislative body as specified in the
31 subdivision, the City Council hereby finds that; although a portion of the Moratorium Area
32 established in this ordinance includes properties on which a significant component of multi-
33 family housing could be built in accordance with the 1987-2005 Petaluma General Plan;
34 nonetheless, based on the location of proposed multi-family development on such properties
35 and the present status of the related development application, the moratorium established
36 pursuant to this ordinance will not have the effect of denying approvals needed for the
37 development of projects with a significant component of multi-family housing; and that,
38 therefore, the findings specified in Section 65858, subdivision (c), need not be made; and,
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40 WHEREAS, pursuant to Section 15001 of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA)
41 Guidelines, this ordinance is exempt from CEQA based on the following:
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43 (1) This ordinance is not a project within the meaning of Section 15378 of the State
44 CEQA Guidelines, because it has no potential for resulting in physical change in the
45 environment, directly or ultimately.
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47 (2) This ordinance is categorically exempt from CEQA under Section 15308 of the
48 CEQA Guidelines as a regulatory action taken by the City pursuant to its police power and in
49 accordance with Government Code Section 65858 to assure maintenance and protection of
50 the environment pending the evaluation and adoption of contemplated local legislation,
51 regulation and .policies.
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Ordinance No. 2244 N.C.S. Page 2
1 (3) This ordinance is not subject to CEQA under the general rule that CEQA applies
2 only to projects which have the potential for causing a significant effect on the environment.
3 For the reasons set forth in subparagraphs (1) and (2), above, it can be seen with certainty that
4 there is no possibility that this ordinance will have a significant effect on the environment.
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7 NOW THEREFORE, the City Council of the City of Petaluma does ordain as follows:
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9 Section l . Recitals Made Findings. The above recitals are hereby declared to be true and
10 correct and findings of the City Council of the City of Petaluma.
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12 Section 2. Moratorium Imposed. A moratorium is hereby imposed on certain specified
13 development in the City of Petaluma in the 1989 FEMA FIRM 100 Year Floodplain in accordance
14 with the City's powers under Article XI, Section 5 of the California Constitution, Article VII, Section
15 54, of the City Charter, and California Government Code Section 65858, as follows:
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17 A. Sco e
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19 No application for the issuance of permits for the construction of a building located on
20 any part of a parcel in the City of Petaluma located. in the floodplain as depicted in the 1989
21 FEMA FIRM 100 Year Floodplain Map, as amended by an approved Letter of Map Amendment
22 ("COMA") or Letters of Map Revision ("LOMR") on file with the City of Petaluma and upstream of
23 the constriction weir of the Corps of Engineers Payran Flood Control Project ("Moratorium Area")
24 shall be approved during the moratorium period.
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26 B. Statutory Findings and Purpose.
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28 This ordinance is declared to be an interim ordinance as defined under California
29 Government Code section 65858. This ordinance is deemed necessary for the following reasons:
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31 1. The purpose of this Ordinance is to protect the public safety, health, and
32 welfare from a current and immediate threat posed by the issuance of development
33 entitlements that could result in development in the Moratorium Area that may result in negative
34 safety and economic impacts on or of such.. proposed new development on other or existing
35 development.
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37 2. New development projects have been and/or may be proposed for
38 construction in the Moratorium Area, and unless a moratorium is imposed on the issuance of
39 permits for the construction of buildings located in the Moratorium Area, development in the
40 Moratorium Area may result in negative safety and economic impacts on or of such proposed
41 new development on other or existing development, thus increasing the potential damage to
42 the public health, safety, welfare of Petalumans from events such as the flooding event of
43 December 31, 2005.
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45 3. It is, therefore, necessary to impose a moratorium on issuance of permits
46 for the construction of buildings located in the Moratorium Area to provide time to evaluate and
47 adopt legislation, guidelines and/or policies as required to avert negative safety and economic
48 impacts on or of such proposed new development on other or existing development.
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Ordinance No. 2244 N.C.S. Page 3
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2 C. Applicability.
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4 This ordinance shall apply to all applications for the issuance of permits for the
5 construction of any building located in the Moratorium Area that have not received final
6 approval as of the effective date of this ordinance.
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8 D. Exceptions.
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10 This ordinance shall not apply to the following:
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12 l . Tenant improvements and/or any other construction, repair or
13 maintenance work on a building existing as of the effective date of this ordinance; provided
14 that, such work does not result in any increase in the square footage of the existing footprint of
15 the building..
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17 2. Development projects that are subject to City Council approval, and that
18 have been approved by the City Council prior to the effective date of this ordinance, and that
19 are not subject to further approval of the City Council, whether or not such. projects are subject
20 to further approval by subordinate City bodies or officials.
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22 3. Modifications of projects approved by the City Council in accordance
23 with provision D(2), above, provided that such modifications do not result in any increase in the
24 square footage of the existing footprint of the project.
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26 Section 3. This interim urgency zoning ordinance shall by operation of law be of no further
27 force and effect ten months and fifteen days from and after the date of its adoption provided,
28 however, that after notice and public hearing the City Council may, by asix-sevenths vote,
29 extend this interim ordinance for a period of one year.
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31 Section 4. If any section, subsection, sentence, clause or phrase or word of this ordinance is
32 for any reason held to be unconstitutional, unlawful or otherwise invalid by a court of competent
33 jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this ordinance.
34 The City Council of the City of Petaluma hereby declares that it would have passed and
35 adopted this ordinance and each and all sections, subsections, sentences, clauses, phrases or
36 words thereof irrespective of the fact that any one or more of said sections, subsections,
37 sentences, clauses, phrases or words be declared unconstitutional, unlawful or otherwise invalid.
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39 Section 5. This ordinance is hereby declared to be qn urgency ordinance and shall be in full
40 force and effect immediately upon its adoption. Within fifteen days after adoption, this
41 ordinance shall be published with the names of the members voting for and against the same at
42 least once in a newspaper of general circulation published in the City of Petaluma.
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44 Section 6. The City Clerk is hereby further directed to post and publish this ordinance for the
45 period and in the manner required by the City Charter.
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47 Introduced, Adopted, and Ordered ~e~ted/Published this 15'h day of May, 2006.
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Ordinance No. 2244 N.C.S. Page 4
1 AYES: Vice Mayor Canevaro, Mayor Glass, Harris, Healy, Nau, Torliatt
2 NOES: O'Brien
3 ABSENT: None
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g David Glass,,Mayor
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10 ATTEST: APPROVED AS 70 FORM:
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14 Nancy Beliveau, Clerk Pro Tem Eric W. Danly,.Git Attorney
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