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HomeMy WebLinkAbout15. Adopt Urgency Ord Extending Entitlements & Permits issued by Com Dev Dept in Response to COVID-19COVID-19 EMERGENCY RESIDENTIAL RENTAL ASSISTANCE JULY 14, 2020 PAGE 2 public hearing, are required to enact the use approved by the Planning Commission within one year. Similarly, DMC Sections 8005 and 8006 state reviews and construction permits issued by the Building Division are subject to time limits intended to encourage good faith efforts to complete construction projects. These time limits require completion of a project within 180 days (6 months) or 365 days (one year) depending on the applicable code cycle. These time limits are in place to encourage completion of development projects so that a property does not turn into a nuisance by allowing an unfinished construction site to remain for an indefinite amount of time. A global pandemic was never a consideration when these code sections were developed and incorporated into the Municipal Code. At the June 23, 2020 City Council Meeting, Council Member Saab suggested staff research the existing entitlement and building permit timelines to determine if assistance could be provided for any individuals or businesses impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Staff found that, while some projects were able to slowly move forward during the pandemic, many struggled due to the various factors noted above and continue to struggle to comply with the guidelines set by the County Health Officer. As a result, staff has prepared an Urgency Ordinance to provide assistance to individuals and businesses impacted by the pandemic. The Urgency Ordinance is needed to encourage individuals and businesses to continue to adhere to the guidelines set by the County Health Officer. Maintaining the existing timelines can add undeserved pressure to a permit holder fearing the burden of additional time and cost to reinstate an expired permit or entitlement. Revisions to an approved entitlement require a fee and a new public hearing, in addition to outside costs for design professionals and time delays. A potential snowball effect can lead a permit holder to disobey orders from the County Health Officer in an attempt to meet the permit timelines. Whereas, the adoption of the Urgency Ordinance to extend the validity of the entitlements and permits for an additional six months can alleviate the pressure and encourage compliance with County Health Officer directives intended to stop the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. The six month extension will allow permit holders to recoup the three months lost at the start of the pandemic and allow additional time to complete a project with the current safety guidelines. Efficiency & Adaptability Economic Vibrancy Adoption of the Urgency Ordinance would not have a direct impact on the General Fund, as the implementation of the proposed extensions would not require expenditures from any budgeted accounts. The diversion of extension application fees may be considered a potential loss of revenue; however, Building Permit extension applications have a nominal fee of $84, and Planning entitlement extension requests have not been received for the last six years so these fees would not be expected to alter anticipated revenues. COVID-19 EMERGENCY RESIDENTIAL RENTAL ASSISTANCE J U LY 14, 2020 PAGE 3 ATTACHMENTS A — Urgency Ordinance • at its regular meeting on March 24, 2020; and WHEREAS, in • 2020, the Governor and the State Public Health Officer articulated a 4 Stage framework ("California Pandemic Resilience Roadmap") to reintroduce business sectors and activities in a phased manner to protect the public health and safety and lower COVID-19 transmissions and outbreaks in the community; and Attachment "A" WHEREAS, on May 13, 2020, the County of Los Angeles announced its "Reopening Safer at Work and in the Community Revised Order" moving the County of Los Angeles through "Stage 2" of "California's Pandemic Resilience Roadmap"; and WHEREAS, on May 29, 2020 the County of Los Angeles announced the State's approval of the County's plan to move business sectors and activities further into "Stage 2" of California's "Pandemic Resilience Roadmap"; and WHEREAS, the COVID-1 9-related social distancing measures imposed by federal, state, and municipal agencies and the slow reopening of businesses under the County's plan will continue to result in a substantial loss of income for many individuals, businesses and developers; and, WHEREAS, the Orders, the temporary closure of Downey City Hall and other efforts to slow the spread of COVID-1 9 have resulted in the slowing, delay or cessation of land use development activity and permit processing effectively shortening the validity of planning entitlements and building permits; WHEREAS, this Urgency Ordinance extending the deadlines for the expiration of entitlements, permits, and reviews would alleviate additional costs and delays to projects which encountered COVID-19-related interruptions and impediments; and, WHEREAS, this Urgency Ordinance extending the deadlines for the expiration of Community Development permits and application reviews due to COVID-19-related delays alleviates potential financial burdens associated with application costs, revisions to project plans, and time delays; and, WHEREAS, in accordance with California Government Code Section 8634 and Downey City Charter Sections 511 and 514 and based on the recitals set forth herein, the City Council finds that this Urgency Ordinance is necessary to immediately preserve and protect the public peace, health, safety and welfare and is enacted pursuant to the City's police powers afforded by the California State Constitution and State law. NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF DOWNEY DOES HEREBY ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. The above recitals are true and correct and are incorporated herein by this reference as findings in support of the regulations contained in this Urgency Ordinance. SECTION 2. The City Council of the City of Downey hereby enacts this Urgency Ordinance extending the validity of the entitlements and permits issued by the Community Development Department as a result of COVID-119-related impacts as follows: A. Notwithstanding the provisions of Downey Municipal Code (DMC) Sections 8006 and 8007, the following permit applications and permits issued by the Building Official pursuant to DMC Article Vill shall be extended for an additional 180 days: (1) any permit that was issued on or after November 1, 2019 through June 1, 2020;and (2) any plan check application submitted on or after November 1, 2019 through June 1, 2020. This extension shall be granted upon submission of an extension request to the Building Division and at no cost to a project applicant. B. Notwithstanding the provisions of DIVIC Sections 9820.060)(1) and 9820.060)(2), 9824.040)(1) and 9824.040)(2) the time to commence the following Planning Approval is hereby extended for an additional 180 days: (1) Site Plan Review and Conditional Use Permit approvals granted by the Planning Commission as of June 1, 2019 through June 1, 2020 that were not able to commence the use or obtain construction permits for activity. This extension shall be provided automatically and at no cost to a project applicant. SECTION 3. The City Council finds and declares that this Urgency Ordinance is required for the immediate preservation and protection of the public peace, health, safety and welfare for the following reasons: a. In the interest of public health and safety, as affected by the emergency caused by the spread of COVI D-1 9, it is necessary to exercise authority to adopt this Urgency Ordinance related to the extension of validity of entitlements and permits issued and reviews completed by the Community Development Department, to ensure individuals and businesses have sufficient time to successfully complete development projects while complying with the safety guidelines set by the County Health Officer to prevent the further spread of COVI D-1 9. b. The Governor's Executive Orders and the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health's "Safer at Home" order resulted in the temporary closure of Downey City Hall and other nonessential businesses for approximately three months. Individuals and businesses experienced three months of uncertainty which may have impacted progress on their approved entitlements, permits issued, or application reviews; the six month extension provides them the opportunity to recover some of the lost time and allows them an opportunity to successfully complete their projects by following the continued safety measures without additional financial or time impediments. C. Social distancing required many industries to adjust their typical business practices, in some cases resulting in delays to typical project schedules in that architects and engineers who began working from home may have had limited ability to complete project plans for City review resulting in longer review periods. Extending the validity of entitlements and plan reviews removes inadvertent penalties that may have resulted from applying existing review times for individuals who adhered to the County's "Safer at Home" orders. d. During the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak, construction sites were required to adhere to social distancing where practical, which in many cases resulted in construction crews for different trades to alternate their time on a construction resulting in slower progress because they could not work concurrently. Extension of permit validity will allow construction projects who adhered to social distancing guidelines to continue development under existing permits. SECTION 4. This Urgency Ordinance is adopted pursuant to Government Code Section 8634 and Downey City Charter Sections 511 and 514, and shall become effective immediately upon its adoption by a four -fifths (4/5 th) vote of the City Council. SECTION 5. This Urgency Ordinance shall be in effect until the final expiration of permits, plan reviews, and entitlements issued during the time periods specified in Section 2 of this Ordinance, unless extended by action of the City Council. If the term of this Urgency Ordinance is not extended, then it shall automatically expire at 11:59 p.m. on its last day without further action of the City Council. 0 i I 1 0 12110 4E, ,SECTION 6. The City Council finds and determines that the adoption of this Urgency Ordinance is exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) under State CEQA Guidelines Section 15060(c)(2), in that the adoption of this Urgency Ordinance will not result in a direct or reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment, and is further and independently exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act under State CEQA Guidelines Section 15061 (b)(3), in that it can be seen with certainty that temporarily extending certain permit approvals and application processing timelines for a limited period of time will not have a significant effect on the environment. SECTION 7. If any article, section, subsection, paragraph, sentence, clause or phrase of this Urgency Ordinance is declared by a court of competent jurisdiction to be unconstitutional or otherwise invalid, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this Urgency Ordinance. The City Council declares that it would have adopted this Urgency Ordinance, and each article, section, subsection, paragraph, sentence, clause, phrase or portion thereof, irrespective of the fact that any one or more articles, sections, subsections, paragraph, sentences, clauses, phrases, or portions be declared invalid or unconstitutional. SECTION 8. The City Clerk shall certify to the adoption of this Urgency Ordinance and cause the same to be published in the manner prescribed by law. 0 "I 1 0 IVETTIel 11111�11;11 q MARIA ALICIA DUARTE, CIVIC City Clerk CITY OF DOWNEY I HEREBY CERTIFY that the foregoing Uncodified Urgency Ordinance No. 20- w introduced and adopted at a Regular Meeting of the City Council of the City of Downey held o the 14"' day of July, 2020, by the following vote, to wit: i MMALTA �6 67 I FURTHER CERTIFY that a Summary of the foregoing Uncodified Urgency Ordinan No. 20- , was published in the Downey Patriot, a newspaper of general circulation in the"] City of Downey, on _ 2020, after adoption. It was also posted in the regular posting places in the City of Downey on the same dates. WjVff1VAMW AU"Wj aLollf City Clerk