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Time Set 14.
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| Planning Commission |
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| Information |
| SUBJECT |
10:00 a.m. WORKSHOP
ZF #2012-0032: Approval of the public review draft of the Zoning Code update to be circulated for public comment, and acceptance of an accompanying schedule of workshops and public hearings leading to adoption of the Zoning Code update in late 2013. Owner/Applicant: Yolo County (E. Parfrey)
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| SUMMARY |
| FILE # ZF 2012-0032: Update of the Yolo County zoning code and related regulations |
APPLICANT: Yolo County
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OWNER: numerous
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LOCATION: applies to all properties in the unincorporated area
GENERAL PLAN: all land use designations
ZONING: all zones
SUPERVISORIAL DISTRICT: all |
SOILS: all
FLOOD ZONE: all
FIRE SEVERITY ZONE: all |
| ENVIRONMENTAL DETERMINATION: TBD |
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| RECOMMENDED ACTION |
That the Planning Commission:
1. Hold a workshop and consider public comments on the proposed public review of the update of the zoning and related regulations of Title 8 in the County Code (Attachment A);
2. Give direction to staff on any further revisions to the public review draft;
3. Take an informal “straw vote” to recommend approval of the public review draft if the Commission believes it to be substantially complete and ready for formal public review;
4. Approve the proposed schedule of workshops and hearings for the public review draft of the updated Zoning Code (Attachment B);
5. Direct staff to refer the public review draft to the citizens advisory committees and all other interested parties for their further review and comment; and
6. Direct staff to return to the Planning Commission for the first scheduled public hearing tentatively scheduled for June 13, 2013.
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| REASONS FOR RECOMMENDED ACTIONS |
The Planning Commission has completed its review of all the revised articles and sections of Title 8 of the Yolo County Code. Staff has assembled all of the sections and chapters into a public review draft Zoning Code Update, which is ready for dissemination to all advisory committees and interested parties. A proposed public hearing schedule has been submitted, which would lead to final adoption of the new Zoning Code by the Board of Supervisors by September, 2013.
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| BACKGROUND |
Over the last three years, the Planning Commission has held numerous workshops on the proposed rewritten articles (sections) and chapters of the County Zoning Code. The Commission, the citizens advisory committees, and interested parties have had the opportunity to review several versions of each of the rewritten sections. The updated agricultural zoning regulations and the accompanying zoning map of agricultural zone districts was also reviewed by the Ag Working Group, an advisory group appointed by the Board of Supervisors which met during 2010 to work on the Clustered Agricultural Housing Ordinance and related issues.
The following chronology summarizes these previous workshops and actions:
March 11, 2010: The Planning Commission heard a discussion from staff on the overall update of the County zoning regulations and held a public workshop to consider public comments and give further direction to staff on the proposed first draft of the Local CEQA Guidelines.
September 9, 2010: The Planning Commission held a public workshop to consider public comments and give further direction to staff on the proposed first draft of the updated Agricultural Zones regulations (Article 3).
December 9, 2010: The Planning Commission held second public workshops on the Local CEQA Guidelines and the Agricultural Zones regulations, and the first workshop on the General Provisions (Article 1) and Administrative Provisions (Article 2) regulations.
February 10, 2011: The Planning Commission held a public hearing on the Local CEQA Guidelines, the General Provisions, and the Administrative Provisions revised drafts. The Commission took an informal "straw vote" to recommend tentative approval of Articles 1 and 2 and directed staff to return with the Local CEQA Guidelines after the draft had been reviewed by the citizens advisory committees.
March 10, 2011: The Planning Commission held a third public workshop to consider public comments and give further direction to staff on the proposed third draft of the updated Agricultural Zone regulations.
June 9, 2011: The Planning Commission held a fourth public workshop on the updated Agricultural Zones regulations.
July 14, 2011: The Planning Commission was scheduled to hold a public hearing on the updated Agricultural Zones regulations and to take an informal "straw vote" to recommend tentative approval. However, the item was not heard due to a lengthy public hearing.
September 8, 2011: The Planning Commission held a public workshop on the proposed zoning map to accompany the updated Agricultural Zones A-N, A-X, A-C, and A-I. The Commission discussed, and asked questions of staff regarding, the proposed zoning map and the revised zoning regulations for the A-C and A-I zones. The Commission took no further action.
June 28, 2012: The Planning Commission took a "straw vote" to unofficially support the updated agricultural zoning (Article 3). The Commission also held a public workshop on the first draft of the updated regualtions for the residential, commercial, and industrial zones.
October 11, 2012: The Planning Commission held a second workshop to review the second drafts of the proposed update of the zoning regulations for the residential, commercial, and industrial zones (Articles 3, 5, 6, and 7). At the conclusion of the public workshop the Planning Commission took an informal “straw vote” to approve the latest revision of these three articles.
November 8, 2012: The Planning Commission held a public workshop on the update of the Williamson Act Guidelines (not a part of the County Code). At the conclusion of the public workshop the Planning Commission took an informal “straw vote” to approve the revised guidelines.
February 4, 2013: The Planning Commission held a public workshop on the update of the zoning regulations for eleven separate sections in Title 8 of the Yolo County Code, including:
Chapter 1: Subdivision and Related Regulations
Chapter 2, Article 10: General Development Standards
Chapter 2, Article 11: Energy and Telecommunications Development Standards
Chapter 2, Article 13: Off-street Parking and Loading
Chapter 3: Landscape Irrigation Ordinance
Chapter 4: Flood Protection
Chapter 6: Alcoholic Beverage Control Ordinance
Chapter 10: Reasonable Accommodations
Chapter 11: Mobile Home Park Conversion Ordinance
Chapter 12: Historic Landmarks
Chapter 14: Addressing System
At the conclusion of the public workshop the Planning Commission took an informal “straw vote” to approve the revised regulations, excluding the Mobile Home Park Conversion Ordinance and Development Agreement chapter, and to direct staff to circulate the regulations to the citizens’ advisory committees for their review and recommendations.
March 14 and April 11, 2013: The Planning Commission held workshops to review second drafts of the Mobile Home Park Conversion and the Development Agreement ordinance and took an informal “straw vote” on April 11 to approve the latest revision of these two ordinances.
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| PROJECT DESCRIPTION |
The program to overhaul and completely re-write the zoning regulations in the Yolo County Code began in early 2010, shortly after the 2030 Yolo Countywide General Plan was approved in late 2009.
The Yolo County zoning ordinance was last comprehensively revised over 25 years ago. Over the last three decades, the Code has been incrementally updated and re-written in no particular order. Title 8 of the County Code is now a mixture of current up-to-date regulations and byzantine zoning text with references to outdated uses that are no longer relevant to current land use and development issues. Some sections of the current zoning regulations also fail to define or list typical uses that are allowed or not allowed in the respective zones, requiring staff to interpret whether specific uses are allowed or not.
The revised ordinance has also been redesigned and streamlined to ensure that more benign uses are allowed or permitted without the need for unnecessary staff and Planning Commission review. More individual uses in all of the zones are allowed through the issuance by staff of a non-discretionary (no public hearing) Site Plan Review or issuance of a Minor Use Permit after a public hearing before the Zoning Administrator. The intention is to focus limited staff resources on only those uses that may require closer scrutiny because of potential impacts on neighbors and/or the environment. In concert with this goal, the Local CEQA Guidelines that accompany the zoning regulations exempt more specific uses from the need to go through environmental review such as preparation of an Initial Study/Negative Declaration. However, the updated zoning regulations retain the ability of staff to require additional public review and environmental study for those applications that may be technically exempt from further review but, because of specific environmental issues or controversy, may warrant review to comply with CEQA.
The more “user-friendly” updated zoning regulations define and regulate uses in the agricultural, residential, commercial, and industrial zones within broad “Use Types.” Each of the zoning articles or sections share a similar format, relying on a series of tables, instead of lengthy lists of text. The tables include all Use Types that are allowed in the respective zones, followed by a listing of specific uses that are common to the broad Use Type. The tables include specific references for each use that may be subject to performance standards. The performance standards or additional requirements that apply to some uses are included in a section following the tables. Each article also includes an updated "Definitions" section that are related to the zoning district, taking the place of one very large definition article that is found in the current zoning code. The intent is to include all relevant regulations for each zone in one section for ease of reference, avoiding the need to search through the entire zoning code to ensure all requirements for development will be met.
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| ANALYSIS |
Staff has compiled all of the individual sections and chapters of the Zonng Code that have been reviewed by the Planning Commission over the last three years into a public review draft. The draft encompasses some 350 pages (Attachment A). The draft does not include the two guidelines sections that are not a part of the County Code, the Local CEQA Guidelines and the Williamson Act Guidelines.
Staff has also prepared a proposed schedule of public workshops and hearings to be held by the Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors over the next five months (Attachment B). Staff is requesting that the Planning Commission consider the schedule and recommend any modifications, if needed.
Staff is now preparing the Initial Study/Mitigated Negative Declaration for the Zoning Code Update. It is scheduled to be complete and begin a 30-day circulation period before the end of May, 2013.
The schedule calls for an initial workshop on the Zoning Code Update on May 21, 2013 with the Board of Supervisors. During the months of May through July, 2013, staff will be meetings with citizens advisory committees. The first workshop is to be held on July 11, 2013 at the Planning Commission. This first hearing will be to accept public comments on the public review draft and the proposed rezoning of individual properties.
Staff assumes that the Planning Commission will hold at least a second public hearing, possibly on August 8, 2013, and make a series of recommendations to the Board. The Board of Supervisors will then hold two public hearings in September, 2013.
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