Report to Mayor and City Council
Tuesday, April 05, 2022
Discussion
SUBJECT:
Title
CONSIDER ADOPTING AN URGENCY ORDINANCE NO. 22-2223U ESTABLISHING REGULATIONS TO REQUIRE CONDITIONAL USE PERMITS FOR WAREHOUSING AND LOGISTICS FACILITIES INVOLVING NEW CONSTRUCTION IN EXCESS OF 5,000 SQUARE FEET IN THE INDUSTRIAL (MANUFACTURING-HEAVY AND MANUFACTURING-LIGHT) ZONES (CITY COUNCIL)
Body
I. SUMMARY
Currently, the City's Zoning Ordinance generally does not require a conditional use permit for industrial warehousing and logistics facilities in the M-H or M-L zones. As a result, projects for construction of such facilities, which are often quite large and potentially involve high amounts of truck traffic and other potential adverse impacts, have recently been processed subject to approval of at most a Site Plan and Design Overlay Review ("DOR") pursuant to CMC 9172.23, for projects located in the City's Design Overlay Zone, whereas projects not located in the Design Overlay Zone are not subject to a DOR approval and are required to be approved by the Community Development Director. Even where a DOR approval is required, if the project is consistent with the applicable General Plan land use designation and any applicable zoning code and does not require another entitlement that renders the project a discretionary project within the meaning of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), then CEQA review will be inapplicable. As a result, the City lacks authority to impose conditions of approval that constitute environmental mitigation measures pursuant to CEQA on the project. See McCorkle Eastside Neighborhood Grp. v. City of St. Helena, 31 Cal. App. 5th 80 (2019). The City has received and processed numerous applications for such projects in recent months, several of which have already been approved and several of which remain pending.
Due the City's lack of regulatory control over such projects and the location of the City making it a prime destination for sa...
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