This chapter is adopted pursuant to the general police powers
of the City, a charter City, for the purpose of implementing the growth
management element of the general plan.
(Ord. 2960 § 1, 1992)
The Council of the City finds that the provisions of this chapter
are necessary to protect, and will promote the public health, safety
and welfare by balancing new residential development with: the City's
ability to provide the public facilities and services necessary for
such development; the protection of social and economic values in
existing residential neighborhoods and in commercial and industrial
areas; the conservation of vital open spaces and natural resources;
the achievement of decent housing for all income categories; the attainment
of community goals for the overall size and character of the City;
and the attainment of a stable, moderate growth rate sufficient to
support a healthy business economy.
(Ord. 2960 § 1, 1992)
The provisions of this chapter apply to all residential development
projects within the City. Dwelling units proposed to be constructed
as part of the housing allocation plan, a density bonus program or
any other housing development program shall require allotments as
provided in this chapter.
(Ord. 2960 § 1, 1992; Ord. 2019-015 § 1)
means the granting or issuance of one or more entitlements
to a particular development project.
means a permit issued by the Department of Community Development
which authorizes the construction of a single unit.
means a facility, place or building which is maintained and
operated to provide nonmedical residential care, day care, and home-finding
services for children, adults or children and adults, including, but
not limited to, the physically handicapped, mentally impaired or incompetent
persons, developmentally disabled, mentally disordered children and
adults, court wards and dependents, neglected or emotionally disturbed
children, alcohol or drug-addicted children or adults, battered adults
or children and aged persons.
means a project containing at least one dwelling unit. For
the purpose of this chapter, the Director of Community Development
is authorized to make a determination of the number of dwelling units
that are contained within a particular development project.
means the director of the City's Department of Community
Development and his or her designated representatives.
means the number of authorizations made available each calendar
year to obtain a building permit for the construction of a dwelling
unit.
means a facility, place or building which is maintained and operated to provide medical care. Health care facility shall include, but not be limited to, hospitals, nursing homes, intermediate care facilities, clinics and home health agencies, all of which are licensed by the State Department of Health Services and defined in the California Health and Safety Code, Division 2, Chapter 1, Section 1200.
means a household with an annual income, adjusted for household
size, of not more than 80 percent of the median income, as established
from time to time by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
for the Santa Rosa-Petaluma Metropolitan Statistical Area, but more
than the maximum income permitted of a very low income household of
comparable size.
means a development in which residential uses are combined
with uses such as office or commercial in a single building.
means:
A for-sale, single-family, attached or detached dwelling unit
on a lot, not exceeding 4,000 square feet in area, with:
Two or fewer bedrooms with a maximum of 900 square feet if one
story or 1,000 square feet if two story, or
Three bedrooms with a maximum of 1,200 square feet if one story
or 1,300 square feet if two story, or
Four bedrooms with a maximum of 1,250 square feet if one story
or 1,350 square feet if two story; or
A multifamily rental unit of any size.
For-sale, single-family attached units of any size, provided
that the density of such units is at least 10 dwelling per acre.
means a development (including replacement or rehabilitation
developments) containing efficiency units, each of which include a
living area and a complete private bath and kitchen, but not a separate
bed-room, or SRO units each of which contain a living area and may
include a private bathroom or kitchen, but not both.
means a single dwelling unit.
means a household with an annual income of not more than
50 percent of the area median income, adjusted for household size,
as established from time to time by the U.S. Department of Housing
and Urban Development for the Santa Rosa-Petaluma Metropolitan Statistical
area.
(Ord. 2960 § 1, 1992; Ord. 3228 § 1, 1995; Ord. 3708 § 1, 2005)
The total number of new entitlements that shall be made available
each calendar year for the calendar years 2001 – 2005 shall
be 950 each year; for the calendar years 2006 – 2010 shall be
900 each year; for the calendar years 2011 – 2015 shall be 850
per year; and for the calendar years 2016 – 2020 shall be 800
per year.
(Ord. 2960 § 1, 1992; Ord. 3159 § 1, 1994; Ord. 3708 § 2, 2005; Ord. 3775 § 1, 2006)
(A)
The Director of Community Development shall issue allotments. The
maximum number of entitlements that are available in any calendar
year may be allotted. Allotments shall be issued at the time each
development project receives its final discretionary approval. Final
discretionary approvals include approvals of tentative subdivision
maps and conditional use permits, but shall not include final design
review approvals unless the final design review approval is the only
discretionary approval required for the development project.
(B)
At the time an application for the approval of a development project is filed with the Department of Community Development, the developer shall request the number of allotments needed for the development in each calendar year over a period of up to five years. The request shall not exceed the maximum number of allotments that may be issued to a single development project in a year. The maximum allotment for a single family development is 75 per year. The maximum allotment for a multifamily development is 200 per year. Exceptions to the maximum project allotment may be made by the City Council through a Reserve Agreement, as defined in Section 21-03.080, and considered at the time of the development approval.
(Ord. 2960 § 1, 1992; Ord. 3708 § 3, 2005)
(A)
Reserve A. 50 percent of the new entitlements becoming available
in any calendar year shall be reserved for and may only be allotted
to accessory dwelling units, units in mixed use projects, qualifying
units and units which are affordable to very low or low income households.
The entitlements reserved under this subsection shall be called "Reserve
A" entitlements. For an allotment to be taken from Reserve A, it need
meet only one of the unit type criteria set forth in this section.
The Planning Commission may allow single-family qualifying units
on lots slightly larger than 4,000 square feet to be allotted from
Reserve A in certain circumstances. Such allowance may occur in cases
where the larger lots make up a small number of the total project
lots and where the Planning Commission determines the units are intended
to function as qualifying units.
(B)
Reserve B. The remaining 50 percent of the new entitlements becoming available in any calendar year shall be reserved for the units listed in subsection (A) and for all other units including unrestricted market rate units. The entitlements reserved under this subsection shall be called "Reserve B" entitlements. For a Reserve A unit to receive an allotment from Reserve B entitlements, all Reserve A entitlements must have been allotted for the calendar year in which the allotment is requested.
(C)
The determination of whether an allotment shall be taken from the
Reserve A or Reserve B entitlements shall be made by the director
at the time the development project receives its final discretionary
approval. For an allotment to be taken from the Reserve A entitlements
as a very low or low-income unit, evidence in the form of an executed
recorded agreement between the property owner and the housing authority,
or other City-approved governmental agency which regulates affordability
of housing, must be provided to ensure that the proposed unit will
be rented or sold at a price affordable to the specified income household
for a specified period of time as approved by the City Council.
(D)
Mixed Reserve A/Reserve B Projects. Projects which have an equal
number of Reserve A and Reserve B type units, or are within one unit
of that mix, shall have all their allotments drawn from the Reserve
A allotment pool. Such project may request conceptual review by the
Planning Commission to receive general project feedback.
(Ord. 2960 § 1, 1992; Ord. 3159 § 2, 1994; Ord. 3234 § 1, 1995)
The City from time to time, as authorized by resolution of the City Council, may enter into reserve agreements with developers of development projects having substantial improvement costs, to reserve allotments in future calendar years in excess of the maximum number of allotments authorized by Section 21-03.060(B).
(Ord. 2960 § 1, 1992; Ord. 3708 § 4, 2005; Ord. 2017-024 § 10)
(A)
Reserve A entitlements which are not allotted in a particular calendar
year shall be added to the new Reserve A entitlements which will become
available in the next calendar year.
(B)
A Reserve B entitlement which is not allotted or allotted not used
in the calendar year in which it becomes available shall be transferred
to an allotment bank for use the next calendar year. Allotments in
this bank shall be used in the following priority: (1) to provide
units for developers who turned in their unusable allotments prior
to June 1st of the year in which they were designated, and (2) for
projects which achieve City objectives, as determined by the City
Council. Once a Reserve B entitlement has been transferred to the
allotment bank and designated as available for projects which achieve
City objectives, it shall remain available for that purpose only and
shall be carried forward to subsequent years until used.
(Ord. 2960 § 1, 1992; Ord. 3159 § 3, 1994; Ord. 3228 § 2, 1995; Ord. 3708 § 5, 2005)
If an entitlement is allotted, but no building permit is issued
during the calendar year in which the allotment becomes available,
the allotment shall become void and without effect unless:
(A)
The developer of the project which was issued the allotment notifies the Director of Community Development in writing by June 1 of the year in which the allotments are valid that no building permit will be requested under such allotment. In such a case, the same number of allotments set forth in the written notice can be issued to the project for future calendar years if entitlements are still available in such future years and the total number of allotments for that project in any such year does not exceed the limit established under Section 21-03.060. The released allotments shall be, to the extent possible, reissued to other development projects which are seeking allotments that year, using a waiting list maintained in the Department of Community Development on a first come first served basis.
(B)
The development project has a recorded final map for all, or one
or more phase(s) of the development project's area. In such a case,
the allotments issued to the phase(s) of the development project encompassed
by the recorded final map(s) shall remain valid for such phase(s)
as they become available under the terms of their issuance. Such allotments
shall not thereafter be voided or lost for any failure to obtain a
building permit or undertake construction in the calendar year in
which the allotments first become available, but shall remain available
to the development project until utilized.
(Ord. 2960 § 1, 1992; Ord. 3084 § 1, 1993; Ord. 3228 § 3, 1995)
In any calendar year, Reserve A entitlements may be borrowed from the Reserve A entitlements which will become available in the following calendar year for the construction of very low or low income units which have fulfilled the requirements set forth in Section 21-03.070(C). No other borrowing from entitlements that will become available in future calendar years shall be allowed.
(Ord. 2960 § 1, 1992; Ord. 3708 § 6, 2005)
(A)
If the final discretionary approval for a development project expires,
the allotments issued to it shall become void as to that project,
but, to the extent possible, shall be reissued to other development
projects seeking allotments in the year(s) in which the allotments
will become available. If the final discretionary approval for a development
project is extended, the allotment issued to that project shall continue
to be valid in accordance with the terms of their issuance.
(B)
The Director of Community Development may extend the validity of
allotments about to expire at the end of a calendar year for up to
150 calendar days in order to complete recordation of a final map.
In order to grant an extension the Director must find that the applicant
has seriously pursued the submittal of all necessary materials and
has responded on a timely and diligent basis in making corrections.
No extension beyond 150 calendar days shall be allowed.
(Ord. 2960 § 1, 1992; Ord. 3228 § 4, 1995; Ord. 3773 § 1, 2006)
The following projects are exempt from the provisions of this
chapter:
(A)
Any development project which has received all required discretionary
approvals prior to the effective date of the ordinance codified in
this chapter. For the purposes of this section, the issuance of a
building permit for the construction of one or more dwelling units
does not constitute a discretionary approval;
(B)
The construction of a dwelling unit to replace a previously existing
dwelling unit situated on the same lot which was demolished or destroyed
within five years of the date the building permit application for
the replacement unit is submitted to the Department of Community Development;
(C)
The construction of homeless shelters, community care or health care
facilities, and single room occupancies.
(Ord. 2960 § 1, 1992)
An applicant, or any other interested person, or any City official
who considers a decision made under the provisions of this chapter
to be erroneous, may appeal the same to the City Council.
(A)
The appeal shall be filed with the City Clerk within 10 working days
from the date on which the decision was made.
(B)
The appeal shall be in writing and shall specifically describe the
decision which is being appealed, each ground which the appellant
is relying upon in making the appeal, and the specific action which
the appellant wants the City Council to take.
(C)
A timely filed appeal shall stay all actions resulting from the decision.
Any allotment(s) issued under the decision shall be preserved pending
the Council's decision on the appeal; any allotments requested by
an appellant which were denied by the decision shall also be preserved
(or reserved) pending the Council's determination of the appeal to
the extent that corresponding entitlements are still available for
allotment at the time the City Clerk notifies the Director of Community
Development of the filing of the appeal.
(D)
Upon the filing of an appeal, the City Clerk shall immediately notify
the Director of Community Development and, if other than the Director
of Community Development, the person making the decision, of the appeal
and shall forward a copy of the appeal to each such person.
(E)
A timely filed appeal shall be heard by the City Council within 30
days of its filing, and the Council shall decide the matter within
21 days of such hearing.
(Ord. 2960 § 1, 1992)
(A)
At least once each calendar year, the Department of Community Development
shall prepare a report on the growth management program which shall
include the following:
(1)
The number of building permits issued (1) with Reserve A allotments
and (2) with Reserve B allotments during the time period covered by
the report;
(2)
The number of entitlements, if any, that remained unallotted in (1)
Reserve A and (2) Reserve B during the time period; the number of
Reserve A entitlements, if any, borrowed from the next year's Reserve
A entitlements; the number of Reserve B entitlements, if any, that
were reserved in future calendar year entitlements;
(3)
An evaluation of the coordination of planning and development decisions,
including infrastructure planning, with policies relating to growth
management;
(4)
An analysis of the provision of public services, and if those services,
including fire and police response, parks, water and wastewater services,
have sufficient capacity to meet the needs of the City;
(5)
A listing of any significant problems which arose during the time
period covered in administering the growth management program;
(6)
A listing of any staff recommendations, with regard to changes or
revisions to the adopted program to improve its effectiveness and/or
administration;
(7)
A recommendation, if any, together with factual supporting data,
as to whether the growth management element of the general plan and/or
the growth management program should be substantially revised or discontinued.
(B)
The staff report shall be submitted to the Planning Commission as
an agendaed item at a regular meeting of the Planning Commission for
review and comment. The comments and recommendation(s), if any, of
the Planning Commission shall be forwarded to the City Council.
(C)
The staff report, together with any comments and recommendations
made thereon by the Planning Commission, shall be submitted to the
City Council as an agendaed item at a regular meeting of the Council.
(Ord. 2960 § 1, 1992; Ord. 3822 § 1, 2007; Ord. 3828 § 2, 2007)
The City Council, by resolution, may from time to time adopt
procedures, policies, rules and requirements, including the adoption
of a processing fee, to implement and administer the provisions of
this chapter.
(Ord. 2960 § 1, 1992)
