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HomeMy WebLinkAboutStaff Report 4.E 04/02/2018DATE: April 2, 2018 Agenda Item #4.E TO: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council through City Manager FROM: Sue Castellucci, Housing Administrator SUBJECT: Adoption of an Urgency Ordinance To Facilitate the Provision of Temporary Housing Options Within the City of Petaluma for Those Impacted by the Sonoma Complex Fires of October 2017 RECOMMENDATION It is recommended that the City Council Adopt an Urgency Ordinance to Facilitate the Provision of Temporary Housing Options within the City of Petaluma for Those Impacted by the Sonoma Complex Fires of October 2017. BACKGROUND Multiple Northern California counties were devastated by wildfires in October 2017. Sonoma County was hardest hit, with approximately 6,800 homes or structures destroyed, and over 90,000 acres burned. Thousands of people were displaced and the resulting increased need for temporary housing has added to the existing housing availability/affordability crisis. On October 9, 2017, Governor Edmund G. Brown, Jr., proclaimed a State of Emergency due to the magnitude of the fires burning in Napa, Sonoma and Yuba Counties. Governor Brown's proclamation provided State resources to help extinguish the fires and aid in recovery. Recovery efforts in Sonoma County have been multi -dimensional and include both temporary and permanent housing, as well as other resiliency initiatives. All Sonoma County jurisdictions have been urged to play a part in addressing the increased housing demand from fire victims. Both the City of Santa Rosa and the County of Sonoma, which were most directly affected by the fires, have adopted urgency actions to address housing needs. The cities of Healdsburg, Windsor, Sebastopol and Cloverdale have also adopted a range of urgency housing measures to provide temporary housing for those displaced by the fires. The Petaluma City Council has also discussed urgency housing measures to assist in the provision of short term housing as part of the larger County need. At their February 12, 2018 meeting, the Council discussed the following options for providing short term housing for people displaced, by the Sonoma complex fires: Rental of existing guest houses/pool houses for interim housing Allowance for one recreational vehicle on residential, industrial orbusiness park property Moratorium on the issuance of new short term vacation rentals • Waiver of development impact fee for accessory dwelling units • Elimination of onsite parking requirements for Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) The Council directed staff to bring back necessary legislation to implement the following temporary housing measures: Rental of existing guest houses/pool houses Allowance for one recreational vehicle on residential, industrial, and business park properties, and Elimination of onsite parking requirements for new ADUs These measures were discussed as temporary to aid in the most immediate housing needs due to the displacement of Sonoma County residents by the fires. The attached urgency ordinance addresses the parking requirement for accessory dwelling units by eliminating the requirement for an additional parking space for new accessory dwelling units built in the twelve month period during which the ordinance is proposed to be in effect. The ordinance also addresses the rental of existing guest house and pool houses for temporary housing for fire victims. The attached ordinance creates a one-year allowance for the temporary housing units. A sunset clause in the ordinance provides that unless otherwise extended or modified by action of the City council, the ordinance shall expire and its terms shall no longer remain in effect twelve months after adoption. DISCUSSION Guest Houses/Pool Houses A guest house is currently defined in.the Implementing Zoning Ordinance ("IZO") as "detached living quarters of permanent construction, without kitchen or cooking facilities, clearly subordinate and incidental to the main building on the same lot, and intended for use by occasional guests of the occupants of the main building". A guest house may or may not include a bathroom. Guest houses as defined in the IZO lack kitchens, whereas ADUs may have them. The City of Petaluma currently does not regulate subletting of bedrooms or guest houses where all residents are living as a household and there is only one kitchen. Under existing regulations, home owners renting an existing guest house are not required to obtain a permit or other entitlement if the residents are living as a single household with a single kitchen. Therefore, at this time no new legislation needed to allow existing guest houses to be rented as temporary housing for people displaced by the fire. If a kitchen were added to an existing guest house it would no longer be classified as a guest house and would likely be considered an accessory dwelling unit, triggering a different set of requirements, payment of impact fees, etc. Recreational Vehicles The attached urgency ordinance would permit parking one recreational vehicle on property zoned residential (RR, RI, R2, R3, R4, R5, and all residential PUDs), industrial (I), or Business Park (BP) to provide temporary housing°for a Displaced Person. This temporary use would be 2 subject to the issuance of a Temporary RV Housing Permit to ensure that all of the following criteria are met: • The Recreational Vehicle shall not encroach into the public right-of-way when parked • The occupancy and parking of the Recreational Vehicle shall not conflict with applicable CC&Rs or PUD regulations • The Recreational Vehicle shall be connected to the city sewer and water systems subject to permit approved by the Building Department, including any applicable backflow prevention device requirements • The Recreational Vehicle shall be connected to electrical services (the use of a generator is prohibited) • No more than one occupied Recreational Vehicle shall be parked on a property • The owner or user of the Recreational Vehicle shall obtain consent of the property owner prior to parking the Recreational Vehicle and for the duration of the time the Recreational Vehicle is parked on the property • The Recreational Vehicle shall be parked a minimum of 20 feet from a habitable building on the adjacent properties • The Recreational Vehicle shall be a model year 1998 or newer • The Recreational Vehicle shall include a working fire extinguisher, working smoke detector, and working carbon monoxide detector • The owner or user of the Recreational Vehicle shall obtain a Temporary RV Housing Permit prior to commencing occupancy and contingent upon satisfaction of all other requirements The cost of a Temporary RV Housing Permit shall cover processing and site inspection costs. Accessory Dfvelling Units In September 2017 the City Council adopted an ordinance amending Chapter 7 of the Implementing Zoning Ordinance (Section 7.030 — Accessory Dwelling units) to ensure the City's accessory dwelling unit regulations complied with recent changes in State law including, but not limited to, changes enacted as SB 1069, AB 2299 and AB 2406. One of the significant changes in the new state legislation was associated with,required parking and exemptions from providing onsite parking under a range of circumstances, including the following: • ADUs located within one-half mile of public transit (SMART rail station, Petaluma Transit Mall, Eastside Transit Center) • New ADUs within existing structures • ADUs located within a designated historic district or on the property of an individually designated historic landmark • ADUs in neighborhoods where on -street parking permits are required but not offered to occupants of accessory dwelling units, and • ADUs located within one block of a care share vehicle. The attached urgency ordinance would eliminate all onsite parking requirements for new ADUs for a period of one year from the effective date of the ordinance. Upon the expiration of the ordinance, the parking requirements would revert to the existing IZO requirements. While the temporary elimination of onsite parking requirements for ADUs may facilitate the construction of new ADUs, staff does not anticipate a significant parking impact given the extent of existing ADU parking exceptions. An uncodified urgency ordinance has been prepared to implement the Council's direction regarding temporary housing measures. The uncodified ordinance will have the effect of temporarily amending conflicting provisions in the municipal code and the IZO. Upon the expiration of the urgency ordinance, the municipal code and IZO will be in effect as they were before adoption of the urgency ordinance. As a police power, non -zoning measure that does not regulate matters listed in Government Code section 65850, the attached urgency ordinance is not required to be considered by the Planning Commission before consideration and action by the City Council. ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS Adoption of the attached urgency ordinance is exempt from California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) review pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15061(b)(3) because the temporary housing measures contained in the ordinance do not have the potential to have a significant impact on the environment. Adoption of the attached urgency ordinance is also exempt from CEQA pursuant to Section 15269(c) of the CEQA Guidelines as a specific action necessary to mitigate an emergency in that the provisions of the ordinance facilitate temporary housing for persons displaced by the Sonoma Complex fires. FINANCIAL IMPACTS Anticipated costs of issuing, inspecting, and enforcing the Temporary RV Housing Permit will be recovered by the permit fees to be paid by applicants. No additional costs associated with the temporary housing measures are anticipated. ATTACHMENTS 1. Urgency Ordinance 4 ATTACHMENT #I AN URGENCY ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PETALUMA TO FACILITATE THE PROVISION OF TEMPORARY HOUSING OPTIONS FOR THOSE IMPACTED BY THE SONOMA COMPLEX FIRES OF OCTOBER 2017 WHEREAS, beginning on the evening of October 8, 2017, and continuing for days thereafter, a series of wildfires burned over 90,000 acres in Sonoma County and damaged or destroyed over 6,800 homes and structures within Sonoma County; and WHEREAS, on October 9, 2017, the Governor of the State of California proclaimed a State of emergency in Sonoma and other counties; and WHEREAS, on October 10, 2017, the President of the United State of America declared the existence of a major disaster in the State of California and ordered federal aid to supplement State and local recovery efforts in the areas affected by the fires and identified several measures by which the process could be expedited and facilitated; and WHEREAS, the Petaluma City Council recognizes the need to provide additional housing options within the City of Petaluma to assist in the Sonoma County recovery efforts; and WHEREAS, Sonoma County and the State of California were suffering a housing crisis before the Sonoma Complex Fires, which decimated housing in the area and further exacerbated the local housing crisis; and WHEREAS, adoption of temporary housing options for people displaced by the Sonoma Complex Fires is necessary to provide immediate housing relief; and WHEREAS, this urgency ordinance is hereby declared to be necessary to provide temporary housing units for people displaced by the Sonoma Complex Fires and for workers needed for recovery and reconstruction efforts in Sonoma County and for the preservation of the public peace, health and safety of the City of Petaluma and its citizens, and shall take effect and be in force from and after its final passage by unanimous vote of all of the members of the City Council present at the time of its adoption in accordance with Section 76A of the Petaluma Charter and Section 36937 of the California Government Code; and WHEREAS, the temporary measures adopted by this ordinance are not detrimental to the health, safety, and welfare of the public in that they provide additional housing options to City residents and neighbors, impose appropriate standards, require the approval of property owners, and would be of limited duration; and WHEREAS, the interim measures for temporary housing units contained in this ordinance are consistent with the Petaluma General Plan 2025 in that they involve the exercise the land use powers of the City to protect the health, safety and welfare of the public, which 5 would be put at risk if people displaced by the fires did not have safe temporary housing units; and WHEREAS, adoption of this Ordinance is exempt from the provisions of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to Section 15269(c) of the CEQA Guidelines as specific action necessary to mitigate an emergency in that the provisions of this ordinance facilitate temporary housing for displaced persons as defined below and pursuant to Section 15061(b)(3) of the CEQA Guidelines in that the provisions of this ordinance do not have the potential to cause a significant effect on the environment; and WHEREAS, at a duly noticed public meeting on April 2, 2018 the City Council considered the ordinance and interested members of the public were invited to provide comments; NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PETALUMA AS FOLLOWS: Section 1 Recitals Made The above recitals are hereby declared to be true and correct and are hereby incorporated herein as findings of the City Council of the City of Petaluma. Section 2. Uncodified police power measure. This ordinance is adopted in reliance upon the City's police power pursuant,to Article XI, Section 7 of the California Constitution and the Petaluma Charter. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in the Petaluma Municipal Code, the Implementing Zoning Ordinance (Ordinance no. 2300 N.C.S.), or any other enactment, regulation, rule or policy of the City that is currently in effect, the following provisions shall be in effect within the City so long as this ordinance is in effect and shall expire and cease to be in effect without further action by the City Council on the expiration date of this ordinance. Except as temporarily amended by this ordinance, all provisions of the Petaluma Municipal Code, the Implementing Zoning Ordinance (Ordinance no. 2300 N.C.S.) and all other enactments, regulations, rules and policies of the City shall continue unchanged and remain in full force and effect. A. Definitions For the purposes of this ordinance: "Displaced Person(s)" means a Sonoma County resident or residents whose residential dwelling has been destroyed or damaged by the Sonoma Complex Fires that prompted the Proclamation of Emergency of the State Governor on October 9, 2017, such that the resident(s) cannot occupy the dwelling. Displaced person(s) may be required to provide verification to the City to substantiate their eligibility for uses, permits and/or approvals described in this ordinance. Evidence of eligibility may consist of verification by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) registration or damage assessment, and/or driver's license or other government -issued identification card or utility bill, etc., with a 6 physical address showing the resident resided on a legal parcel impacted by the Sonoma Complex Fires, as determined by the City. Such determination may be made by the Planning Manager, or other City personnel designated by the City Manager. B. Recreational Vehicles. Through issuance of a Temporary RV Housing Permit upon payment of the associated fee, one Recreational Vehicle may be parked and occupied as temporary housing on a property zoned residential (RR, R1, R2, R3, R4, R5 and residential PUDs), industrial (1), or business park (BP) provided that all of the following criteria are met: • The Recreational Vehicle shall not encroach into the public right-of-way when parked. • The occupancy and parking of the Recreational Vehicle shall not conflict with applicable CC&Rs or PUD regulations. • The Recreational Vehicle shall be connected to the city sewer and water systems subject to permits approved by the Building Department, including any applicable backflow prevention device requirements. • The Recreational Vehicle shall be connected to electrical services (the use of a generator is prohibited) • No more than one occupied Recreational Vehicle shall be parked on a property. • The owner or user of the Recreational Vehicle shall obtain consent of the property owner prior to parking and occupying the Recreational Vehicle and for the duration of the time the Recreational Vehicle is parked and occupied on the property. • The Recreational Vehicle shall be parked a minimum of 20 feet from a habitable building on the adjacent properties. • The Recreational Vehicle shall be a model year 1998 or newer.. • The Recreational Vehicle shall include a working fire extinguisher, working smoke detector, and working carbon monoxide detector. • The owner or user of the Recreational Vehicle shall obtain a Temporary RV Housing Permit prior to commencing occupancy and contingent upon satisfaction of all other requirements Failure to satisfy any of these criteria shall be sufficient grounds to deny or to revoke a Temporary RV Housing Permit. All temporary RV housing allowed pursuant to Temporary RV Housing Permits issued in accordance with this ordinance shall be removed by or before the date this ordinance expires. C. Parking Requirements for New Accessory Dwelling Units. No onsite parking shall be required for any new Accessory Dwelling Units constructed following the effective date of this ordinance and prior to its expiration. Upon the expiration of this ordinance, any new ADU constructed without onsite parking in accordance with this ordinance shall be considered legal non -conforming. If construction of a new accessory dwelling unit includes removal of required onsite parking established for the primary unit, the parking shall be replaced elsewhere onsite in conformance with applicable location, design and setback requirements of the Implementing Zoning Ordinance, Ordinance no. 2300 N.C.S... The amount and type of replacement parking shall not be required to exceed existing parking provided prior to removal or the minimum required under the Implementing Zoning Ordinance, whichever is less restrictive. Section 3 Severability. If any section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase or word of this ordinance is for any reason held to be unconstitutional, unlawful or otherwise invalid by a court of competent jurisdiction or preempted by state legislation, such decision or legislation shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this ordinance. The City Council of the City of Petaluma hereby declares that it would have passed and adopted this ordinance and each and all provisions thereof irrespective of the fact that any one or more of said provisions be declared unconstitutional, unlawful or otherwise invalid. Section 4. Effective Date. This urgency ordinance shall become effective immediately upon unanimous adoption by the members of the Petaluma City Council present in accordance with Section 76A of the Petaluma Charter and Section 36937 of the California Government Code. Section 5. Sunset. Unless otherwise extended or modified by action of the City Council, this ordinance shall expire and cease to be in effect without further action by the City Council effective midnight, April 2, 2019. Section 6. Posting/Publishing of Notice. The City Clerk is hereby directed to publish or post this ordinance or a synopsis for the period and in the manner provided by the City Charter and other applicable law. INTRODUCED, and order posted this 2nd day of April, 2018. ADOPTED