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HomeMy WebLinkAboutORD 04 (2008)ORDINANCE NO. 04(2008) AN INTERIM ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF DIAMOND BAR PURSUANT TO GOVERNMENT CODE SECTION 65858 PROHIBITING CERTAIN GROUP RESIDENTIAL USES INCONSISTENT WITH RESIDENTIAL ZONES AND PROVIDING REASONABLE ACCOMMODATION PROVISIONS FOR THE DISABLED AND DECLARING THE URGENCY THEREOF. The City Council of the City of Diamond Bar does hereby ordain as follows: SECTION 1. Purpose and findings. The land use impacts associated with different types of group residential uses in residential zones and the City's authority to address those impacts have not been addressed in light of recent legal developments. The secondary impacts of these facilities, particularly pertaining to noise, traffic, parking and law enforcement can more adequately be addressed following review and updating of the City's current regulations. The City is currently studying new development standards and locational criteria for group residential uses and residential care facilities in order to ensure proper and appropriate regulation of the use and occupancy of single-family properties throughout the city in order to preserve the residential character of the neighborhoods. It is likely that zoning standards for these uses will change as a result of this update. Due to the time required to prepare and adopt these new regulations and update the zoning ordinance, this Ordinance is intended to place an interim prohibition on the establishment of new facilities and uses in residential zoning districts as of the date of adoption hereof until new permanent regulations are prepared and adopted by the City Council. Notwithstanding the above, in accordance with Federal and State fair housing laws, this ordinance also provides for reasonable accommodations in the City's zoning and land use regulations, policies, and practices, during the term of this Ordinance or any extension thereof, when needed to provide an individual with a disability an equal opportunity to use and enjoy a dwelling. SECTION 3. Definitions. For purposes of this Ordinance, the following terms shall be defined as set forth below: "Boarding or Rooming House" means a residence or dwelling unit, or part thereof, wherein a room or rooms are rented under two or more separate written or oral rental agreements, leases or subleases or combination thereof, whether or not the owner, agent or rental manager resides within the residence. "Fair housing laws" means the Federal Fair Housing Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and California's Fair Employment and Housing Act, as each Act may be amended from time to time, and each Act's implementing regulations. "Family" means one or more persons living together as a single housekeeping unit in a dwelling unit. "Group Residential" means shared living quarters, occupied by two or more persons not living together as a single housekeeping unit. This classification includes, without limitation, boarding or rooming houses, dormitories, fraternities, sororities, and private residential clubs, but excludes residential care facilities (general, small licensed, and small unlicensed). "Individual with a disability," as more specifically defined under the fair housing laws, means a person who has a physical or mental impairment that limits one or more major life activities, a person who is regarded as having that type of impairment, or a person who has a record of that type of impairment, not including current, illegal use of a controlled substance. "Parolee -Probationer Home" means any residential structure or unit, whether owned and/or operated by an individual or a for-profit or nonprofit entity, which houses two or more parolees -probationers unrelated by blood, marriage, or legal adoption, in exchange for monetary or nonmonetary consideration given and/or paid by the parolee -probationer and/or any public or private entity or person on behalf of the parolee -probationer. A parolee -probationer includes: (1) any individual who has been convicted of a Federal crime, sentenced to a United States prison, and received conditional and revocable release in the community under the supervision of a Federal Parole Officer; (2) any individual who has served a term of imprisonment in a State prison and who is serving a period of supervised community custody, as defined in Penal Code Section 3000, and is under the jurisdiction of the California Department of Corrections, Parole and Community Services Division; (3) an adult or juvenile sentenced to a term in the California Youth Authority and who has received conditional and revocable release in the community under the supervision of a Youth Authority Parole Officer; or (4) any individual who has been convicted of a felony, sentenced to any correctional facility, including County correctional facilities, and is under the jurisdiction of any Federal, State, or County Parole or Probation Officer. For the purposes of this section, "felony" means a felony as defined by any California or United States statute. "Residential Care Facilities, General" means any place, site or building, or groups of places, sites or buildings, licensed by the State or unlicensed, in which seven or more individuals with a disability reside who are not living together as a single housekeeping unit and in which every person residing in the facility (excluding the licensee, members of the licensee's family, or persons employed as facility staff) is an individual with a disability. "Residential Care Facilities, Small Licensed" means State -licensed facilities that provide care, services, or treatment in a community residential setting for six or fewer adults, children, or adults and children and which are required by State law to be treated as a single housekeeping unit for zoning purposes. Small licensed residential care facilities shall be subject to all land use and property development regulations applicable to single housekeeping units. This term does not include child day care facilities or adult day care facilities as those terms are defined in the Diamond Bar Municipal Code. "Residential Care Facilities, Small Unlicensed" means any place, site or building, or groups of places, sites or buildings, which is not licensed by the State of California and is not required by law to be licensed by the State, in which six or fewer individuals with a disability reside who are not living together as a single housekeeping unit and in which every person residing in the facility (excluding persons employed as facility staff) is an individual with a disability. "Single-family residential" means a building or buildings containing one dwelling unit 4 located on a single lot for occupancy by one family. This classification includes mobile homes and factory -built housing. "SingNe housekeeping unit" means the functional equivalent of a traditional family, whose members are an interactive group of persons jointly occupying a single dwelling unit, including the joint use of and responsibility for common areas, and sharing household activities and responsibilities such as meals, chores, household maintenance, and expenses, and where, if the unit is rented, all adult residents have chosen to jointly occupy the entire premises of the dwelling unit, under a single written lease with joint use and responsibility for the premises, and the makeup of the household occupying the unit is determined by the residents of the unit rather than the landlord or property manager. SECTION 3. Prohibition of Certain Uses. A. The establishment of the following uses, whether or not a permit of any kind is required from the City, are prohibited during the term of this Ordinance in the RR, RL, and RLM residential zoning districts as those zoning districts are defined in the Diamond Bar Municipal Code, except as approved through the reasonable accommodation process set forth below in Section 4: 1. Group Residential 2. Residential Care Facilities, General 3. Residential Care Facilities, Small Unlicensed. Notwithstanding any provision of the Diamond Bar Municipal Code to the contrary, no zoning permits or approvals, subdivision maps or building permits for such uses shall be approved or issued in the RR, RL and RLM zoning districts in the City during the term of this Ordinance or any extension thereof, except as approved through the reasonable accommodation process set forth below in Section 4. B. The establishment of Parolee -Probationer Homes shall be prohibited in all residential zones during the term of this Ordinance. Notwithstanding any provision of the Diamond Bar Municipal Code to the contrary, no zoning permits or approvals, subdivision maps or building permits for such uses shall be approved or issued in residential zoning districts in the City during the term of this Ordinance or any extension thereof. SECTION 4. Reasonable Accommodation. In accordance with Federal and State fair housing laws, it is the purpose of this section to provide reasonable accommodations in the application of this interim ordinance and to the City's zoning and land use regulations, policies, and practices when needed to provide an individual with a disability an equal opportunity to use and enjoy a dwelling. A. Application for Reasonable Accommodation. An application for a reasonable accommodation from this ordinance or other zoning regulation, policy, or practice shall be made to the Community Development Director and shall include: 1. The provision of this ordinance or other zoning regulation, policy, or practice from which accommodation is being requested. No fee shall be required for a request for reasonable accommodation, but if the project requires another discretionary permit, then the prescribed fee shall be paid for all other discretionary permits. 2. Documentation that the applicant is: (a) an individual with a disability; (b) applying on behalf of one or more individuals with a disability; or (c) a developer or provider of housing for one or more individuals with a disability; 3. Documentation that the specific exception or modification requested by the applicant is necessary to provide one or more individuals with a disability an equal opportunity to use and enjoy the residence; 4. Any other information that the Planning Director reasonably concludes is necessary to determine whether the findings required by subsection 4.13. below can be made, so long as any request for information regarding the disability of the individuals benefited complies with fair housing law protections and the privacy rights of the individuals affected. B. Findings. The written decision to approve, conditionally approve, or deny a request for reasonable accommodation shall be based on the following findings, all of which are required for approval: 1. The requested accommodation is requested by or on behalf of one or more individuals with a disability protected under the fair housing laws. 2. The requested accommodation is necessary to provide one or more individuals with a disability an equal opportunity to use and enjoy a dwelling. 3. The requested accommodation will not impose an undue financial or administrative burden on the City as "undue financial or administrative burden" is defined in fair housing laws and interpretive case law. 4. The requested accommodation will not result in a fundamental alteration in the nature of the City's zoning program, as "fundamental alteration" is defined in fair housing laws and interpretive case law. 5. The requested accommodation will not, under the specific facts of the case, result in a direct threat to the health or safety of other individuals or substantial physical damage to the property of others. C. Factors. In making a decision regarding the reasonableness of the requested accommodation, the following factors may be considered: 1. Whether the requested accommodation will affirmatively enhance the quality of life of one or more individuals with a disability. 2. Whether the individual or individuals with a disability will be denied an equal opportunity to enjoy the housing type of their choice absent the accommodation. 3. In the case of a residential care facility, whether the requested accommodation is necessary to make facilities of a similar nature or operation economically viable in light of the particularities of the relevant market and market participants. 4. In the case of a residential care facility, whether the existing supply of facilities of a similar nature and operation in the community is sufficient to provide individuals with a disability an equal opportunity to live in a residential setting. 5. Whether the requested accommodation would fundamentally alter the character of the neighborhood; 6. Whether the accommodation would result in a substantial increase in traffic or insufficient parking; 7. Whether granting the requested accommodation would substantially undermine any express purpose of either the City's General Plan or an applicable specific plan; 8. In the case of a residential care facility, whether the requested accommodation would create an institutionalized environment due to the number of and distance between facilities that are similar in nature or operation. D. Hearing and Decision. Any request for reasonable accommodation shall be reviewed by the Planning Commission at a public hearing and may be approved, conditionally 6 approved or denied by the Planning Commission. The Planning Commission may approve alternative reasonable accommodations which provide an equivalent level of benefit to the applicant. SECTION 4. Penalties. Violation of any provision of this Ordinance shall constitute a misdemeanor and shall be punishable by a fine not to exceed $1,000 or by imprisonment in County jail for not to exceed six (6) months, or by both such fine and imprisonment. Each and every day such a violation exists shall constitute a separate and distinct violation of this Ordinance. In addition to the foregoing, any violation of this Ordinance shall constitute a public nuisance and shall be subject to abatement as provided by all applicable provisions of law. SECTION 5. Severability. If any part or provision of this Ordinance or the application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the remainder of this Ordinance, including the application of such part of provision to other persons or circumstances, shall not be affected and shall continue in full force and effect. To this end, the provisions of this Ordinance are severable. SECTION 6. Urgency. Based on the findings set forth in Section 1 hereof, certain group residential uses pose a current and immediate threat to the public health, safety and welfare. This Ordinance is necessary to alleviate and address that threat by prohibiting the establishment of new specified group residential uses that may be inconsistent with new zoning standards currently being developed until those revised standards can be established and adopted. This ordinance is adopted pursuant to California Government Code Section 65858 and shall take effect immediately upon adoption by a four-fifths vote of the City Council. This ordinance shall be in full force and effect for a period of forty-five (45) days from the date of its adoption unless extended by the City Council in accordance with the provisions of California Government Code Section 65858. SECTION 7. Conflicting Laws. For the term of this Ordinance, or any extension thereof, the provisions of this Ordinance shall govern over any conflicting provisions of any other City code, ordinance, resolution or policy. SECTION 8. This Urgency Ordinance is not subject to the California Environmental Quality Act ("CEQA") because the proposed code amendment will not result in a direct or reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment (Section 15060(c)(2) of the CEQA Guidelines) and this ordinance is covered by the general rule that CEQA applies only to projects that have the potential for causing a significant effect on the environment (Section 15061 (b)(3) of the CEQA Guidelines); moreover, this ordinance is also exempt from CEQA pursuant to Section 15305 of the CEQA Guidelines (minor alterations in land use). PASSED, APPROVED AND ADOPTED this 15th day of July, 2008. Jack Tanaka, Mayor I, Tommye Cribbins, City Clerk of the City of Diamond Bar do hereby certify that the foregoing Ordinance was introduced at a regular meeting of the City Council of the City of Diamond held on the 15th day of July, 2oo8 and was finally passed at a regular meeting of the City Council of the City of Diamond Bar held on the 15th , day of July , 2008, by the following vote: AYES: Council Members: Chang, Herrera, Tye, MPT/Everett, M/Tye NOES: Council Members: crone ABSENT: Council Members: None ABSTAIN: Council Members: None Tommye'Cribbins, City Clerk