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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Council Resolution 00-040 RESOLUTION 00-040 RESOLUTION OF THE CITY OF SARATOGA AMENDING RESOLUTION NO. 00-039 TO PLACE A MEASURE ON THE BALLOT FOR THE GENERAL MUNICIPAL ELECTION TO BE HELD IN THE CITY OF SARATOGA ON NOVEMBER 7, 2000 WHEREAS, the Saratoga City Council on June 21, 2000 adopted Resolution No. 00-039 ordering and calling a general municipal election to be held in the city of Saratoga on November 7, 2000; and WHEREAS, the Saratoga City Council wishes to amend said resolution to direct that a measure be placed before the voters concerning approval of residential projects on commercially designated lands; NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, by the City Council of the City of Saratoga: Resolution No. 00-039 is hereby amended to insert the following text immediately following paragraph 5: 6. At said election the following question shall be submitted to the voters: Shall the City of Saratoga reaffirm and readopt an ordinance prohibiting until March 15, 2002 the YES approval of residential development projects on lands designated in the Saratoga General Plan as "Retail Commercial", "Professional Administrative", "Gateway Landscaping", or NO "Planned Development"? 7. The text of the measure referenced in item 6, above, is attached hereto as Attachment 1 and the City Clerk is directed to transmit a copy of said measure to the City Attorney for preparation of an impartial analysis of the measure showing its effect on existing law and the operation of the measure. -1- PASSED AND ADOPTED at a regular meeting of the City of Saratoga this 21st day of June 2000 by the following vote: COUNCIL MEMEBERS: AYES: Evan Baker, John Mahaffey, Ann Waltonsmith, Mayor Stan Bogosian NOES: Nick Streit ABSTAINED: None ABSENT: None SIGNED: MAYOR OF~ARATOGA ATTACHMENT 1 -3- ATTACHMENT 1 -4- INITIATIVE ORDINANCE AN ORDINANCE REAFFIRMING, READOPTING AND AMENDING AN INTERIM ORDINANCE PROHIBITING THE APPROVAL OF SPECIFIED RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS ON COMMERCIAL LAND AND DECLARING THE SAME TO BE AN URGENCY MEASURE TO TAKE EFFECT IMMEDIATELY THE PEOPLE OF THE CITY OF SARATOGA DO HEREBY ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS: Section 1. Findings. The people of the City of Saratoga fred and declare as follows: A. The purpose of this measure is to reaff'mn and readopt the City of Saratoga ordinance protecting the City of Saratoga=s commercial land use base by prohibiting until March 15, 2002 the approval of specified residential development projects on commercially designated lands in the City=s General Plan. B. Of the approximately 8000 acres of land in Saratoga, 128 acres are designated for commercial development. This is less than 1.6 percent of Saratoga=s land area. C. Commercial development in Saratoga is essential to meet diverse and growing local needs for goods and services and to ensure that the City=s economy continues to thrive. D. The General Plan of the City of Saratoga allows residential development in commercial areas subject to issuance of a conditional use permit. Commercially designated parcels are discouraged but not prohibited from being developed entirely for non-commercial uses. There is no minimum density requirement for residential uses of commercially designated lands. E. Current economic conditions in the City have created the potential for increased residential development on lands designated for commercial purposes. F. Premature development of commercially designated lands with non- commercial uses could undermine the City=s commercial land use base by precluding future commercial development. G. There is considerable uncertainty regarding the amount and type of new housing that may be necessary in the City pursuant to state housing laws. Preliminary figures indicate that the City could be obligated to provide up to an average of 30 new below market rate units per year. H. The City of Saratoga plans to update its Housing Element and related provisions in its Land Use and other General Plan elements in accordance with state law and has set a target date of June 30, 2001 for completion of the Update. As part of the update, the City will be evaluating the appropriate role of residential housing development on commercially designated lands in light of the City=s broader goals and objectives and the requirements of state law. This study is expected to result in amendments to the City=s General Plan and zoning ordinance. I. Premature residential development of commercially designated lands could limit the range of options available to the City in this planning process, limit the City=s ability to plan for housing adequate to meet the needs of Saratoga residents all income levels, and result in land uses that are inconsistent with the General Plan and zoning ordinance as amended as' a result of the planning process described above. J. New and pending residential development applications requiring authorization by the City with respect to lands designated as/kCommercial@ in the General Plan may be in conflict with any newly created policy or amendments the City Council eventually adopts. Therefore, approval of such residential development applications constitutes an immediate threat to the public health, safety and welfare. K. Based on the foregoing findings, the City Council of the City of Saratoga on March 15, 2000 adopted Ordinance No. 196A, an interim ordinance prohibiting the approval of specified residential development projects on commercial land and declaring the same to be an urgency measure to take effect immediately. This measure was amended by Ordinance No. 198 on April 19, 2000 to remain in effect until March 15, 2002 or until (1) December 31, 2000 if the measure is not reaffirmed and readopted by the voters at the November, 2000 election, or (2) the City Council determines based on substantial evidence that General Plan and zoning ordinance amendments adopted by the City Council have ameliorated the threat to the public health, safety, and welfare described above. A full .copy of Ordinance 196A as amended is attached hereto as Exhibit A. ' L. The voters have determined that it is in the best interests of the City to reaffmn and readopt Ordinance No. 196A as amended by Ordinance 198 and to further amend 2 said regulation to reflect the voter action. Section 2. Reaffirmation and Readoption of Ordinance 196A. City of Saratoga Ordinance 196A, as amended by Ordinance 198 is hereby reaffh'med and readopted. Section 3. Amendment of Ordinance 196A. Section 3 of Ordinance 196A as amended is hereby amended as set forth below. In this section, text to be stricken is presented in sa4k-~h~q~gh type and text to be inserted is shown in bold type; text in standard type currently appears in the ordinance. Based upon the findings set forth in Section 1, above, this is an interim urgency ordinance adopted pursuant to Government Code section 65858, and pursuant to the authority granted to the City of Saratoga in Article 11, Section 7 of the California Constitution. This ordinance shall therefore take effect immediately upon adoption. This ordinance shall remain in effect until March 15, 2002, provided, however, that this ordinance shall upon a determination by the City Council supported by substantial evidence that the threat to public health, safety, and welfare described in section 1 of this ordinance has been ameliorated by adoption of the General Plan and zoning ordinance amendments described in section 1 of this ordinance. This measure was reaffirmed and readopted and amended by the voters of the City of Saratoga at an election held November 7, 2000 and except as otherwise provided herein, this measure may be amended or repealed only by the voters of the City of Saratoga at a City election. Section 4. Severance Clause. Each section, sub-section, paragraph, sub-paragraph, sentence, clause and phrase of this ordinance is severable and independent of every other section, sub-section, paragraph, sub-paragraph, sentence, clause and phrase of this ordinance. If any section, sub-section, paragraph, sub-paragraph, sentence, clause or phrase of this ordinance is held invalid, the voters declare that they would have adopted the remaining provisions of this ordinance irrespective of the portion held invalid, and 3 further declare their express intent that the remaining portions of this ordinance should remain in effect after the invalid portion has been eliminated. Section 5. Amendment or Repeal, Except as otherwise provided herein, this measure may be amended or repealed only by the voters of the city of Saratoga at a City election. Exhibit List Exhibit A -- Text of Ordinance 196A as amended by Ordinance 198. 4 Exhibit A ORDINANCE NO. 196A [As amended by Ordinance 198, April 19, 2000] AN INTERIM ORDINANCE PROHIBITING THE APPROVAL OF SPECIFIED RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS ON COMMERCIAL LAND AND DECLARING THE SAME TO BE AN URGENCY MEASURE TO TAKE EFFECT IMMEDIATELY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SARATOGA DOES ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS: Section 1. Findings. The City Council finds and declares as follows: A. Of the approximately 8000 acres of land in Saratoga, 128 acres are designated for commercial development. This is less than 1.6 percent of Saratoga=s land area. B. Commercial development in Saratoga is essential to meet diverse and growing local needs for goods and services and to ensure that the City=s economy continues to thrive. C. The General Plan of the City of Saratoga allows residential development in commercial areas subject to issuance of a conditional use permit. Commercially designated parcels are discouraged but not prohibited from being developed entirely for non-commercial uses. There is no minimum density requirement for residential uses of commercially designated lands. D. Current economic conditions in the City have created the potential for increased residential development on lands designated for commercial purposes. E. Premature development of commercially designated lands with non-commercial uses could undermine the City=s commercial land use base by precluding future commercial development. F. There is considerable uncertainty regarding the amount and type of new housing that may be necessary in the City pursuant to state housing laws. Preliminary figures indicate that the City could be obligated to provide up to an average of 30 new below market rate units per year. G. The City of Saratoga plans to update its Housing Element and related provisions in its Land Use and other General Plan elements in accordance with state law and has set a target date of June 30, 2001 for completion of the Update. As part of the update, the City will be evaluating the appropriate role of residential housing development on commercially designated lands in light of the City=s broader goals and objectives and the requirements of state law. This study is expected to result in amendments to the City=s General Plan and zoning ordinance. H. Premature residential development of commercially designated lands could limit the range of options available to the City in this planning process, limit the City=s ability to plan for housing adequate to meet the needs of Saratoga residents all income levels, and result in land uses that are inconsistent with the General Plan and zoning ordinance as amended as a result of the planning process described above. I. New and pending residential development applications requiring authorization by the City with respect to lands designated as g_Commercial@ in the General Plan may be in conflict with any newly created policy or amendments the City Council eventually adopts. Therefore, approval of such residential development applications constitutes an immediate threat to the public health, safety and welfare. J. This ordinance is not a project subject to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to CEQA Guidelines section 15378, subdivision (b). In the event that this ordinance is found to be a project under CEQA, it is subject to the CEQA exemption contained in section 15061, subdivision (b) (3) of the CEQA Guidelines, because it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that it may have a significant effect on the environment. The purpose of this ordinance is to prohibit on an interim basis, new residential development which may be otherwise permissible under existing policies. The ordinance will not create a change in the environment because it maintains the status quo. Any delay in development approval is only temporary in nature, and would not indirectly or directly result in a physical change to the environment. Section 2. Regulation. The following regulation is hereby imposed. This regulation shall prevail over any conflicting provisions of the Saratoga City Code or the other ordinances, resolutions, policies, and regulations of the City of Saratoga: 1. No application submitted after March 15, 2000 for use permit or tentative subdivision map, parcel map, or building site approval or amendment, to allow for residential use on lands designated in the Saratoga General Plan as ARetail Commercial, @ g. Professional Administrative, @/kGateway Landscaping,@ or Planned Development -Mixed@ shall be approved. Section 3. Interim Urgency Ordinance. Based upon the findings set forth in Section 1, above, this is an interim urgency 2 ordinance adopted pursuant to Government Code section 65858, and pursuant to the authority granted to the City of Saratoga in Article 11, Section 7 of the California Constitution. This ordinance shall therefore take effect immediately upon adoption. This ordinance shall remain in effect until March 15, 2002, provided, however, that this ordinance shall terminate on December 31, 2000 if the regulation adopted by Section 2 of this ordinance is not reaffirmed and readopted by the voters at the next regularly scheduled municipal election; this ordinance will also terminate upon a determination by the City Council supported by substantial evidence that the threat to public health, safety, and welfare described in section 1 of this ordinance has been ameliorated by adoption of the General Plan and zoning ordinance amendments described in section 1 of this ordinance. Section 4. Severance Clause. The City Council declares that each section, sub-section, paragraph, sub- paragraph, sentence, clause and phrase of this ordinance is severable and independent of every other section, sub-section, paragraph, sub-paragraph, sentence, clause and phrase of this ordinance. If any section, sub-section, paragraph, sub-paragraph, sentence, clause or phrase of this ordinance is held invalid, the City Council declares that it would have adopted the remaining provisions of this ordinance irrespective of the portion held invalid, and further declares its express intent that the remaining portions of this ordinance should remain in effect after the invalid portion has been eliminated. Section 5. Publication~ This Ordinance or a comprehensive summary thereof shall be published once in a newspaper of general circulation of the City of Saratoga within fifteen days after its adoption. 3