TO: ADAM PIRRIE, CITY MANAGER
FROM: SHELLEY DESAUTELS, CITY CLERK
DATE: JULY 9, 2024
Reviewed by:
City Manager: AP
SECOND READING AND ADOPTION OF AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF CLAREMONT, CALIFORNIA, ADOPTING A CODE AMENDMENT AND ZONE CHANGE (#21-Z01) TO IMPLEMENT THE REVISED 2021-2029 HOUSING ELEMENT UPDATE AND FINDING THAT THE CODE AMENDMENT AND ZONE CHANGE ARE CONSISTENT WITH THE PREVIOUSLY CERTIFIED FINAL ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT REPORT FOR THE HOUSING ELEMENT UPDATE (STATE CLEARINGHOUSE #2021090340) (FUNDING SOURCE: GENERAL FUND)
SUMMARY
The City has gone through the process to prepare and adopt its 2021-2029 Housing Element Update. At the June 25, 2024 regular City Council meeting, the Revised Claremont Housing Element Update (HEU or Revised HEU) for the 6th-Cycle Planning Period from 2021-2029 was adopted by resolution, and an ordinance adopting an amendment to the Claremont Municipal Code and amending the Official Zoning Map was placed on first reading. Tonight, a second reading of the ordinance is required to complete the ordinance adoption process.
To be consistent with State Housing Element Law and Chapters 16.315 and 16.409 of the Claremont Municipal Code, the proposed Zoning Code Amendment and Zone Change (#21-Z01) are needed to:
A. Amend the City of Claremont Official Zoning Map to rezone and/or add overlay districts for certain Housing Element Opportunity Sites (see Exhibit 1 of the Ordinance which is the Attachment to this report);
B. Repeal Claremont Municipal Code Chapter 16.014 - HDR High Density Residential Overlay District and replace it with Chapter 16.014 - Housing Opportunity Site Overlay;
C. Add a new Chapter 16.015 - ADU-Ready RS 10,000 Overlay; and
D. Amend Chapter 16.081 - SP Specific Plan Districts.
RECOMMENDATION
Recommended Action
Staff recommends the City Council waive further reading and adopt AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF CLAREMONT, CALIFORNIA, ADOPTING A CODE AMENDMENT AND ZONE CHANGE (#21-Z01) TO IMPLEMENT THE REVISED 2021-2029 HOUSING ELEMENT UPDATE AND FINDING THAT THE CODE AMENDMENT AND ZONE CHANGE ARE CONSISTENT WITH THE PREVIOUSLY CERTIFIED FINAL ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT REPORT FOR THE HOUSING ELEMENT UPDATE (STATE CLEARINGHOUSE #2021090340).
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ALTERNATIVES TO RECOMMENDATION
In addition to the recommendation, there are the following alternatives:
A. Request additional information.
B. Do not adopt the ordinance.
Any delay in adoption of the ordinance will continue to keep the City out of compliance with the rezoning deadlines in the State’s Housing Element Law and a stipulated judgment the City entered in Californians for Homeownership v. City of Claremont, Los Angeles County Superior Court Case No. 22STCP03414. This delay will place the City in jeopardy of financial penalties and loss of grant monies and leaves the City vulnerable to “builder’s remedy” applications.
FINANCIAL REVIEW
The cost to prepare and administer this project is estimated at $858,000. This includes the cost for staff, consultants, and program development that spans multiple years and is included in the operating budget for the Community Development Department. The City collects a General Plan Maintenance fee that is charged as a percentage of Development Review fees and Building Permit and Plan Check fees to cover a portion of these costs over time.
The adoption of a Housing Element will include programs that will have financial impacts on the City in order to implement them. The programs vary from routine and ongoing actions to implementation measures; the HEU identifies the source of funding for each of the programs.
ANALYSIS
In accordance with Government Code Section 65580 et seq. (the State “Housing Element Law”) and Chapter 16. 315 of the Claremont Municipal Code, the City Council of the City of Claremont (“City Council”) initiated the preparation of the proposed Zoning Code Amendment and Zone Change (#21-Z01) to provide new zoning and development standards for certain Opportunity Sites identified in the City’s Housing Element for the 6th-Cycle (2021-2029 planning period) to plan for the provision of housing accessible to all income categories (the “2021-2029 Housing Element Update” or “HEU”).
To be consistent with State Housing Element Law and Chapters 16.315 and 16.409 of the Claremont Municipal Code, a Zoning Code Amendment and Zone Change (#21-Z-01) are needed to:
A. Amend the City of Claremont Official Zoning Map to rezone and/or add overlay districts for certain Housing Element Opportunity Sites.
B. Repeal Claremont Municipal Code Chapter 16.014 - HDR High Density Residential Overlay District and replace it with Chapter 16.014 - Housing Opportunity Site Overlay.
C. Add a new Chapter 16.015 - ADU-Ready RS 10,000 Overlay.
D. Amend Chapter 16.081 - SP Specific Plan Districts.
The process the City underwent between September of 2021 and June of 2024 to prepare and adopt its 2021-2029 Housing Element Update (July 11, 2023) and revised 2021-2029 Housing Element Update (June 25, 2024) are outlined in more detail in the recitals to City Council Resolution No. 2024-35, which the City Council adopted June 25, 2024 concurrently with the introduction and first reading of this Ordinance.
This Zoning Code Amendment and Zone Change are needed to bring the City’s General Plan into compliance with a court order (i.e., the Judgment in Californians for Homeownership v. City of Claremont, Los Angeles County Superior Court Case No. 22STCP03414).
CEQA REVIEW
The City Council certified a Final Environmental Impact Report (FEIR) (State Clearinghouse #2021090340) for the HEU adopted in July 2023. The complete FEIR is viewable at www.ci.claremont.ca.us/living/draft-housing-element, a hard copy of the report is available upon request.
The FEIR also considered the Zone Change and General Plan Amendment for the HEU’s Opportunity Sites as part of the environmental analysis. In accordance with CEQA Guidelines Section 15094, the City filed a notice of determination (NOD) with the Governor’s Office of Planning and Research and County Clerk on July 17, 2023. Since certification of the FEIR, the City has revised the HEU per the City Council’s direction given at the July 2023 adoption hearing to include the new ADU-Ready RS 10,000 Overlay. The ADU-Ready RS 10,000 Overlay would apply to Opportunity Sites 41, 42, 43, and 44 (which were included as Opportunity Sites in the July Adopted HEU at higher densities) and newly added Opportunity Sites 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51 and 52). All of the new sites but one (Site 44) are currently vacant but surrounded by urban, residential development. Further, the ADU-Ready RS 10,000 Overlay has the potential to accommodate the same number of units as the North Claremont Opportunity Sites included in the July 2023 Adopted HEU. No other Opportunity Sites, their locations, approved densities, or anticipated unit yields have been modified since the July 2023 Adopted HEU.
Despite the changes to the previously included sites and the addition of seven new sites, the overall sites capacity (or the total number of potential housing units) was reduced from 1,714 total potential units as analyzed in the Final EIR, to 1,695 total potential units. While the FEIR did not specifically evaluate the new ADU-Ready RS 10,000 Overlay, the new Overlay would accommodate substantially the same number of potential units as what is planned for in the July Adopted HEU on vacant properties in the near vicinity of those identified in the previously adopted HEU.
CEQA Guidelines Sections 15162 and 15164 set forth criteria for determining the appropriate additional environmental documentation, if any, to be completed when a project has a previously certified EIR. None of the conditions described in Section 15162 calling for the preparation of a subsequent EIR have occurred. CEQA Guidelines Section 15162(a) states that no Subsequent or Supplemental EIR shall be prepared for a project with a certified EIR unless the lead agency determines, based on substantial evidence in the light of the whole record, one or more of the following:
1. Substantial changes are proposed in the project that will require major revisions of the previous EIR due to the involvement of new significant environmental effects or a substantial increase in the severity of previously identified significant effects.
2. Substantial changes occur with respect to the circumstances under which the project is undertaken which will require major revisions of the previous EIR due to the involvement of new significant environmental effects or a substantial increase in the severity of previously identified significant effects.
3. New information of substantial importance, which was not known and could not have been known with the exercise of reasonable diligence at the time the previous EIR was certified as complete, shows any of the following:
A. The project will have one or more significant effects not discussed in the previous EIR.
B. Significant effects previously examined will be substantially more severe than shown in the previous EIR.
C. Mitigation measures or alternatives previously found not to be feasible would, in fact, be feasible and would substantially reduce one or more significant effects of the project, but the project proponents decline to adopt the mitigation measure or alternative.
D. Mitigation measures or alternatives that are considerably different from those analyzed in the previous EIR would substantially reduce one or more significant effects on the environment, but the project proponents decline to adopt the mitigation measure or alternative.
The analysis pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15162 demonstrates whether the lead agency can approve the activity as being within the scope of the existing certified EIR, which an addendum to the existing EIR would be appropriate, and no new environmental document, such as a new EIR, would be required. In this case, the City finds that the changes in the Housing Element since the Certification of the Final EIR are fully within the scope of the existing certified EIR. Overall, this change results in a decrease in the number of potential housing units (from 1,714 in the Final EIR to 1,695 in the updated Housing Element). Less total growth would be facilitated by the revised Housing Element than was analyzed in the Draft and the Final EIR. Accordingly, impacts related to growth facilitated by the Housing Element would in general be lesser than those identified in the Draft EIR. Although there are new sites on the housing opportunity site list, the environmental impacts related to future development facilitated by the Housing Element on these sites have been adequately addressed in the EIR, and no substantial revisions are necessary. This is not considered to be significant new information resulting in any new environmental impacts or a substantial increase in the severity of any impacts identified in the Final EIR.
The information provided above substantiates and supports the City’s determination that the proposed updates to the Housing Element are within the scope of the certified Final EIR, do not require subsequent action under CEQA Guidelines Section 15162, and, in conjunction with the EIR, have been adequately analyzed for potential environmental impacts.
In addition, the 2021-2019 Housing Element Update and related General Plan Amendment, zone changes, and Zoning Code Amendments are needed to bring the City’s General Plan into compliance with a court order (i.e., the Judgment in Californians for Homeownership v. City of Claremont, Los Angeles County Superior Court Case No. 22STCP03414). Pursuant to Government Code Section 65759(a)(1), these actions are not subject to CEQA.
PUBLIC NOTICE PROCESS
The agenda and staff report for this item have been posted on the City website and distributed to interested parties. If you desire a paper copy, please contact City Clerk’s Office.
Submitted by:
Shelley Desautels
City Clerk
Attachment:
Ordinance Adopting a Code Amendment and Zone Change (#21-Z01)