HomeMy WebLinkAboutOrdinance 2830 N.C.S. 12/19/2022 DocuSign Envelope ID:01A1F17A-E65D-4840-90C4-D2C8915BD04E
EFFECTIVE DATE ORDINANCE NO. 2830 N.C.S.
OF ORDINANCE
January 18, 2023
Introduced by: Brian Barnacle Seconded by: D'Lynda Fischer
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PETALUMA ADOPTING A ZONING
TEXT AMENDMENT OF THE IMPLEMENTING ZONING ORDINANCE SECTION 11.040
(ALTERNATIVES TO ON-SITE PARKING) AND ASSOCIATED REFERENCES IN SECTION 11.030
(OFF-STREET PARKING—GENERAL REGULATIONS)AND SECTION 11.065 (POWER OF THE
ZONING ADMINISTRATOR(DIRECTOR) TO MODIFY REQUIREMENTS)
WHEREAS,City of Petaluma Implementing Zoning Ordinance(IZO) §25.010 provides in pertinent part that
no amendment that regulates matters listed in Government Code § 65850 shall be made to the IZO unless the
Planning Commission and City Council find the amendment to be in conformity with the General Plan and is in
the public necessity, convenience, and general welfare; and
WHEREAS, to address statewide climate and housing challenges, the State has acted to reform parking
mandates; and
WHEREAS, Assembly Bill 744, passed in 2015, limited the maximum parking requirement to .5 parking
spaces per bedroom for housing near transit and for affordable low-income households; and
WHEREAS, in 2016, Senate Bill 1069 and Assembly Bill 2299, which eliminate off-street parking
requirements for ADUs under specific conditions, including within a half-mile radius of transit and within
designated historic districts; and
WHEREAS, in 2021, Assembly Bill 1401,prohibits a public agency with a population of 75,000 to 600,000
from imposing minimum parking requirements on residential or commercial development within'/4 mile of public
transit; and
WHEREAS, in September 2022, Governor Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 2097 which precludes a
city from imposing or enforcing minimum parking requirements on residential,commercial,or other development
projects within %mile of a major transit stop and instead, allows the market to determine the optimal number of
parking spots needed in each project, as defined by Govt. Code Section 65863.2(e)(6); and
WHEREAS, eliminating minimum parking standards, not only disincentivizes people to drive and own
vehicles which contributes to carbon neutrality goals, but it reduces barriers to the production of affordable
housing; and
WHEREAS, many Bay Area cities have eliminated minimum parking requirements for designated areas of
their communities and others, have eliminated the minimum parking requirements citywide such as San
Francisco, Alameda, Emeryville, and Berkeley; and
WHEREAS, the City of Petaluma City Council declared a climate emergency in the spring 2019 in order to
address the adverse effects of climate change and reduce greenhouse gas emissions to the highest extent possible
in future years; and
Ordinance No. 2830 N.C.S. Page 1
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WHEREAS, the City pursued a goal of achieving carbon neutrality by the year 2030 via an adopted Climate
Emergency Framework and corresponding Climate Ready 2030 initiative; and
WHEREAS, the framework recognizes that one of the City's largest increasing contributors to greenhouse
gas emissions is transportation and to achieve the carbon neutrality goal, the City must reduce its dependence on
automobiles and identify potential parking and transportation alternatives for all Petalumans; and
WHEREAS, on March 28,2022,the City held a study session to discuss how parking and associated parking
regulations shape the character and behavior of the City and best practices and tools to guide the development of
new off-street parking policies to meet the City's General Plan and the Climate Ready 2030 goal of reducing
Petaluma's car dependency and achieving carbon neutrality by updating the City's parking rules and increasing
transportation options; and
WHEREAS, a robust study of existing street parking conditions is forthcoming in addition to another
workshop at City Council, and Nelson\Nygaard's study will feed into updates to the City's Implementing Zoning
Ordinance and new parking rules for development projects in Petaluma; and
WHEREAS, a Zoning Text Amendment application was received by Arris Studio Architects on behalf of
BPR Properties LLC to modify the required parking requirement for the Hampton Inn Petaluma (formerly the
Silk Mill)Lodging—Hotel/Motel land use to support their Historic Site Plan and Architectural Review(HSPAR)
application to expand the hotel by 18 guest rooms and maintain the existing number of parking spaces; and
WHEREAS, Planning's response to this application has been to develop a City-wide parking reduction
Zoning Text Amendment; and
WHEREAS, the proposed Zoning Text Amendment, attachment 2 to the concurrent staff report, is an effort
to reduce parking demand for all uses under special circumstances due to changing transportation needs with the
prevalence of ride-hailing car services utilized by hotel guests; and
WHEREAS, the proposed Zoning Text Amendment is broadly written to be applicable to all land uses as
described in Tables 4.1 —4.5 of Chapter 4—Zone Districts And Allowable Land Uses to allow greater flexibility
in reducing minimum parking requirements and would allow the IZO to continue to be responsive to evolving
multi-modal transportation patterns, our needs, City goals and to align with local and state parking reform
mandates regardless of other changes in the future; and
WHEREAS, the proposed amendment to IZO Section 11.040, and amendment of associated references in
Section 11.030 and Section 11.065,would grant designated review authorities the discretion to reduce a project's
minimum parking requirement in cases where the project can demonstrate that demand for parking would be less
than that required by the Table 11.1 and where the review authority can make certain additional findings in order
to approve such a request; and,
WHEREAS, the proposed amendment outlines two processes to reduce the minimum parking required,
including:
1. A minor adjustment to required onsite parking of 20 percent or less may be approved at the discretion of
the Director or the review authority for associated project entitlements if it is determined that the reduction
is consistent with the certain findings;
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2. Major Adjustment. A reduction to required onsite parking greater than 20 percent maybe granted through
Conditional Use Permit approval if it is determined that the reduction is consistent with certain findings;
and
WHEREAS, each of these processes would require that the applicant provide a parking demand analysis
(Minor Adjustment) or parking demand study(Major Adjustment) adequately demonstrating that the number of
parking spaces approved will be sufficient for its safe, convenient, and efficient operation of use and that the
review authority make certain findings to that effect; and
WHEREAS,the Planning Commission and Historic and Cultural Preservation Committee held a duly noticed
public hearing to consider the Zoning Text Amendment on November 15, 2022, at which time all interested
parties had the opportunity to be heard; and
WHEREAS, the Planning Commission considered the staff report dated November 15, 2022, including the
California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) determination, included therein; and
WHEREAS, after said public hearing, the Planning Commission adopted its Resolution No. 2022-17,
recommending that the City Council adopt the zoning text amendment; and
WHEREAS, on November 25, 2022, a public notice of the December 5, 2022,public hearing before the City
Council to consider the amendment was published in the Argus-Courier; and
WHEREAS, on December 5, 2022, the City Council of the City of Petaluma held a duly noticed public
hearing to consider the amendment.
NOW THEREFORE BE IT ORDAINED by the City Council of the City of Petaluma, as follows:
Section 1. The above recitals are hereby declared to be true and correct and are incorporated into this Ordinance
as findings of the City Council..
Section 2. In accordance with Sections 25.010 and 25.070 of the City's Implementing Zoning Ordinance, finds
that the proposed amendment to the Implementing Zoning Ordinance Section 11.040 and associated references
in Section 11.030 and Section 11.065, Exhibit A attached hereto, is in general conformity with the Petaluma
General Plan 2025 in that the amendment implements the policies of the Petaluma General Plan, as described in
City Council staff report dated December 5, 2022.
Section 3. In accordance with Section 25.070 of the IZO, the proposed amendment is consistent with the public
necessity, convenience and welfare in that it will reduce vehicle-related air pollution and provides an alternative
to on-site parking for visitors, which supports policies of the General Plan..
Section 4.Finds that the proposed Zoning Text Amendment is exempt from the California Environmental Quality
Act(CEQA)pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15061(b)(3),which states that CEQA applies only to projects
which have the potential for causing a significant effect on the environment. The proposed amendment only
modifies the parking requirements for allowable land use and CEQA does not consider parking an environmental
impact. Therefore, it can be seen with certainty the proposed amendment would not cause a direct or indirect
significant effect on the environment. Additionally, the Zoning Text Amendment is also categorically exempt
pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15305 (minor alterations to land use limitations).
Section 5.Except as amended herein,the City of Petaluma Implementing Zoning Ordinance,Ordinance No.2300
N.C.S. remains unchanged and in full force and effect.
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Section 6. 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 7. Effective Date. This ordinance shall become effective thirty(30) days after the date of its adoption by
the Petaluma City Council.
Section 8. Posting/Publishing of Notice. The City Clerk is hereby directed to publish or post this ordinance or a
synopsis for the period and in a manner provided by the City Charter and other applicable law.
INTRODUCED and ordered published and posted this 5t1i day of December 2022.
ADOPTED this I91h day of December 2022 by the following vote:
Ayes: Barrett, Barnacle, Fischer, Healy, King, McDonnell, Pocekay
Noes: None
Abstain: None
Absent: None
DocuSigned by:
fit,V't,Sa �aV'v't.{�
Teresa arrett,Mayor
ATTEST: APPROVED AS TO FORM:
DocuSigned by: DocuSigned by:
Kenda 1 Sawyer, CMC, City Clerk Eric an y, ity Attorney
Ordinance No. 2830 N.C.S. Page 4