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HomeMy WebLinkAboutOrd. 1391-2007ORDINANCE NO. 1391 -2007 AN URGENCY ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO MAKING FINDINGS AND EXTENDING A MORATORIUM ON THE APPROVAL OF DISCRETIONARY LAND USE ENTITLEMENTS FOR SPECIFIED PARCELS IN THE EL CAMINO REAL AND SUNSHINE GARDENS SUB - AREAS, PENDING COMPLETION OF A SPECIFIC PLAN WHEREAS, since at least 1994, the City of South San Francisco has been working to develop comprehensive and cohesive planning strategies and policies for the general area northwest of Chestnut Avenue, between El Camino Real and Mission Road, as diagramed on the attached Exhibit A ( "Moratorium Area "), located in the City's El Camino Real and Sunshine Gardens sub - areas; and, WHEREAS, the City is now preparing to adopt a specific plan to establish strategies and policies for the Moratorium Area, and has already spent considerable staff time and financial resources towards developing this plan; and, WHEREAS, since 2002, staff has been negotiating with the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission for the purchase of eight parcels located within the Moratorium Area, as identified in Exhibit A; and, WHEREAS, pursuant to these negotiations, the City has executed a purchase agreement, committed $21 million to the acquisition of the parcels, and expects to close on the sale in the near future; and, WHEREAS, the City has spent $50,000 to retain the services of Rick Williams, of the firm Van Meter Williams Pollack, to assist with developing a planning strategy for the Moratorium Area; and, WHEREAS, staff is preparing and expects to issue in the coming days, a request for proposals to develop a specific plan applicable to the Moratorium Area; and, WHEREAS, a specific plan applicable to the Moratorium Area would systematically implement the City's General Plan policies, define appropriate land uses, and establish development standards in the Moratorium Area; and, WHEREAS, the majority of the Moratorium Area is located within the City's El Camino Corridor Redevelopment Area; and, WHEREAS, portions of the Moratorium Area have been characterized by economic blight, due to the fact that construction of the near -by BART station substantially limited economic development of much of the property; and WHEREAS, now that the BART construction has finished, the City has an opportunity to address the property's economic blight through the adoption of a specific plan applicable to the Moratorium Area; and, WHEREAS, the majority of the Moratorium Area is zoned Planned Commercial (P-Q, and a small area in the northern portion is zoned Transit Village Residential, Medium Density (TV -RM); and, WHEREAS, Municipal Code chapters 20.24 and 20.27 establish standards and permissible uses within the Planned Commercial and Transit Village zoning districts, respectively; and, WHEREAS, these Municipal Code chapters also identify uses that require discretionary review and approval; and, WHEREAS, permissible land uses in the Moratorium Area that do not require discretionary review or approval under the City's Municipal Code, have, by nature of the fact that they require no discretionary review, been determined to be appropriate uses for their respective zoning districts, and sufficiently compatible with surrounding land uses; and, WHEREAS, land uses that require discretionary review and approval in the Moratorium Area, including without limitation conditional use permits, variances, subdivisions, planned unit developments, and zoning amendments ( "Moratorium Prohibited Uses," or "Prohibited Uses "), have, by nature of the fact that they require such discretionary review, been determined to potentially create conflicts with surrounding land uses, or to only be compatible with surrounding land uses to the extent that conditions can be imposed on the proposed use; and, WHEREAS, the City Council finds that because land uses requiring discretionary review and approval present a greater potential for conflict with existing and surrounding uses for the Moratorium Area, temporarily prohibiting these uses in the Moratorium Area, pending completion of a specific plan for the area, will help prevent future land use conflicts in the Moratorium Area; and, WHEREAS, the City Council finds that the prevention of land use conflicts in the Moratorium Area is an issue concerning the public health, safety, and welfare; and, WHEREAS, the City Council finds that initiation of such Moratorium Prohibited Uses in the Moratorium Area, would frustrate the City's efforts to establish and implement a comprehensive and cohesive planning strategy for the Moratorium Area; and, WHEREAS, the City Council finds that a temporary stabilization of activities and land uses within the Moratorium Area is critical to the City's ability to successfully implement its immediate and long term planning and land use goals for the Moratorium Area; and, WHEREAS, on October 10, 2007, by a four - fifths vote, the City Council adopted Ordinance No. 1390 -2007, an urgency ordinance imposing the Moratorium herein described for the Moratorium Area, which ordinance is set to expire forty -five (45) days from the date of adoption; and, WHEREAS, in the time since Ordinance No. 1390 -2007 was adopted, the City has continued to develop its planning strategies for the Moratorium Area, identified potential consultants to assist with development of a specific plan, refined the anticipated scope of the specific plan study, and finalized its request for proposals, which the City expects to issue shortly; and, WHEREAS, additional time is required to sufficiently study land use needs for the Moratorium Area, develop planning strategies, and implement a specific plan for the Moratorium Area; and, WHEREAS, expiration of the Moratorium at this time would allow for land use approvals that would frustrate the City's ability to establish comprehensive and cohesive planning strategies for the property, and prevent the City from effectively addressing economic blight in the Moratorium Area; and, WHEREAS, expiration of the Moratorium at this time, therefore, presents a current and immediate threat to the public health, safety, and welfare; and WHEREAS, if extended, this Moratorium would not prohibit continuation of any existing use in the Moratorium Area, or prohibit any use that is permitted in the Moratorium Area without the need for discretionary review, as detailed in Municipal Code sections 20.24.020 and 20.27.030; and, WHEREAS, if extended, this Moratorium would prohibit discretionary land use approvals for the Moratorium Area, including approvals for those land uses requiring use permits, as detailed in Municipal Code sections 20.24.025 through 20.24.070, and section 20.27.030; and, WHEREAS, the City Council finds that the initiation of the Moratorium Prohibited Uses in the Moratorium Area would pose a current and immediate threat to the public health, safety, and welfare, as the Prohibited Uses would conflict with potential planning goals and policies to be established in the forthcoming specific plan, and could result in continued economic blight in the Moratorium Area; and, WHEREAS, areas outside of the Moratorium Area are zoned Planned Commercial and Transit Village Residential, Medium Density; and, WHEREAS, all of the Prohibited Uses are permitted or conditionally permitted in other areas of the City, including but not limited to areas that are zoned Planned Commercial and Transit Village Residential, Medium Density; and, WHEREAS, the City Council therefore finds that adequate opportunities for development of the Moratorium Prohibited Uses exist throughout the City, beyond the Moratorium Area boundaries; and, WHEREAS, this Moratorium is necessary to avoid the current and immediate threat to the public health, safety, and welfare, and there is no feasible or less burdensome alternative that would satisfactorily avoid the threat created by the Moratorium Prohibited Uses within in the Moratorium Area. NOW THEREFORE, the City Council of the City of South San Francisco does hereby ORDAIN as follows, adopted as an interim ordinance, under the provisions of California Government Code section 65858: (1) Incorporation of Recitals. The City Council finds that all Recitals are true and correct and are incorporated herein by reference. (2) Moratorium Extended. The Moratorium established in Ordinance 1390- 2007 is hereby extended for a period of ten (10) months and fifteen (15) days from the date of its previously scheduled expiration. From and after the date of this ordinance, no discretionary land use approvals, including but not limited to conditional use permits, variances, subdivisions, planned unit developments, and zoning amendments, shall be approved for any property within the Moratorium Area. Under the Moratorium, existing land uses, and those land uses permitted in the Moratorium Area without any requirement for discretionary review and approval under the Zoning Ordinance, Subdivision Ordinance, or any other section of the Municipal Code, may operate in the Moratorium Area. (3) Authority; Urgency Statement. This ordinance extends the effective period of Ordinance 1390 -2007, and is adopted as an urgency measure pursuant to Government Code section 65858 and is for the immediate and long -term preservation of the public peace, health, and welfare. The facts constituting the urgency are these: The City is currently, and has been for many years, in the process of developing a specific plan for certain parcels in the El Camino Real and Sunshine Gardens sub - areas. Land uses in the Moratorium Area that require discretionary review, are likely to conflict with the City's long term planning goals and policies for the area, as established in the forthcoming specific plan. Initiation of these types of uses in the Moratorium Area would frustrate the City's efforts to establish comprehensive and cohesive planning strategies for the property. It would also prevent the City from effectively addressing economic blight in the area, in furtherance of the City's Redevelopment Plan. It would be destructive to the goals of the proposed specific plan if, during the period that the specific plan is being studied and is the subject of public hearings, parties seeking to evade the operation of the specific plan were permitted to operate in a manner that might defeat in whole or in part the ultimate objective of the specific plan. Accordingly, approval of entitlements for such uses presents a current and immediate threat to the public health, safety, and welfare. (4) Compliance with California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). This ordinance is not a "project" within the meaning of section 15378 of the State CEQA Guidelines, because it has no potential for resulting in a direct or reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment; it temporarily prevents certain physical changes in the environment pending completion of the City's planning for the Moratorium Area. Furthermore, this urgency ordinance is categorically exempt from CEQA under Guidelines section 15308 because it is a regulatory action taken by the City, in accordance with Government Code section 65858, to assure maintenance and protection of the environment pending completion of the City's planning for the Moratorium Area. (5) Severability. If any provision of this ordinance or the application thereof to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the remainder of the ordinance, including the application of such part or provision to other persons or circumstances, shall not be affected thereby, and shall continue in full force and effect. To this end, provisions of this ordinance are severable. The City Council hereby declares that it would have passed each section, subsection, subdivision, paragraph, sentence, clause or phrase hereof, irrespective of the fact that any one or more sections, subsections, subdivisions, paragraphs, sentences, clauses, or phrases be held unconstitutional, invalid, or unenforceable. (6) Effective Date. This ordinance shall become effective immediately upon adoption, if adopted by at least four - fifths vote of the City Council, and shall extend the effective period of Ordinance 1390 -2007 for a period of ten months (10) and fifteen (15) days beyond the date that Ordinance 1390 -2007 would have otherwise expired, unless further extended by the City Council as provided for in Government Code section 65858. Adopted as an Ordinance of the City of South San Francisco at a regular meeting of the City Council held the 14th day of November, 2007 by the following vote: AYES: Councilmembers Mark Addiego Joseph A. Fernekes, Karyl Matsumoto Vice Mayor Pedro Gonzalez and Mayor Richard Garbarino NOES: None ABSTAIN: None ABSENT: None ATTEST: City - Larson As Mayor of the City of South San Francisco, I do hereby approve the foregoing Ordinance this 14`h day of November, 2007. Ri hard Gar arino, Mayor