Title
HEARING - Planning and Building Department, Long Range Planning, recommending the Board consider the adoption of proposed Interim Objective Design Standards for state-streamlined, ministerial multifamily and mixed-use projects and Interim Design Standards and Guidelines for multifamily, mixed-use, and commercial projects in the County’s Community Regions and Rural Centers submitted by the Planning and Building Department, Long Range Planning Unit, and staff recommending the Board of Supervisors take the following actions as recommended by the Planning Commission on October 31, 2024:
1) Find the Project exempt from CEQA under Sections 15061(b)(3) (Commonsense exemption), 15305 (Minor Alterations in Land Use Limitations), 15308 (Actions by Regulatory Agencies for Protection of the Environment) and 15378 (Definition of a “Project”) of the CEQA Guidelines;
2) Approve Ordinance 5219 Text Amendment OR24-0002 to amend applicable sections of Article 2 (Zones, Allowed Uses and Zoning Standards), Article 4 (Specific Use Requirements), and Article 5 (Planning Permit Processing) of the Zoning Ordinance to update the requirements for County design oversight and CEQA review related to implementation of the new interim design standards (Attachment I);
3) Adopt and authorize the Chair to sign Resolution 214-2024 to approve the Interim Objective Design Standards for state-streamlined, ministerial multifamily and mixed-use projects and Resolution 215-2024 to approve Interim Design Standards and Guidelines for Multifamily, Mixed-Use, and Commercial Projects in the County’s Community Regions and Rural Centers (Attachments J & K); and
4) Request that staff return to the Planning Commission with an update on the process/progress of implementing the Interim Objective Design Standards for state-streamlined, ministerial multifamily and mixed-use projects and the Interim Design Standards and Guidelines for Multifamily, Mixed-Use, and Commercial Projects prior to the end of 2025.
FUNDING: Discretionary Transient Occupancy Tax (100%).
Body
DISCUSSION / BACKGROUND
In April 2016 (Legistar file13-0561), as a result of ongoing community desire for local design oversight, the Board held a special workshop to discuss community planning efforts and options to consider, including the creation of design standards and guidelines for Community Regions and interested Rural Centers. In December 2017, the Board directed Long Range Planning (LRP) staff to create custom design guidelines/standards and prototypes for the Community Regions identified in General Plan Policy 2.1.1.1 in the following order: Shingle Springs, Diamond Springs/El Dorado, Cameron Park and El Dorado Hills, with Shingle Springs as the lead prototype.
In 2018, the Board approved an initial three-year consultant contract to assist staff with creation of the above design standards, guidelines, and prototypes. However, this contract was voided, and a new contract with Mintier Harnish Consulting (County Agreement No. 5912) was approved on February 1, 2022 (Legistar file 22-0093) to continue this work.
On July 23, 2024 (Legistar file 24-1158), as a result of the County’s strong desire to create updated, community-based, comprehensive, and enforceable community design standards and guidelines, ensure County design oversight for state-qualifying ministerial housing projects and to create a more predictable review process, the Board unanimously directed staff to immediately address the design standards issue. The Board unanimously decided to direct staff to immediately develop County-wide interim design standards for new commercial, horizontal mixed-use, and multifamily residential projects by December 2024.
On September 17, 2024 (Legistar file 24-1552), LRP staff held a public workshop with the Board and Planning Commission (Commission) to review preliminary drafts of the IODS and IDSG and solicit public and decision-maker feedback. Staff reviewed public and decision-maker feedback from the workshop and incorporated all recommended changes into the preliminary documents as appropriate.
On October 31, 2024 (Legistar file 24-1865), the Commission held a public hearing to review the draft documents, including the draft IODS, draft IDSG and focused amendments to the Zoning Ordinance (Articles 2, 4, and 5) required to implement the above standards and guidelines, and make recommendation to the Board regarding the above documents. At the hearing, the Commission recommended the Board approve the draft documents and environmental documentation as presented by staff and recommended the Board direct staff to return to the Commission with an update on the process/progress of implementing the interim standards and guidelines prior to the end of 2025.
Following closure of the public hearing and deliberation, the Commission also proposed a motion for an alternate recommendation, which failed due lack of a quorum. Details regarding this alternate recommendation are included under the Alternatives section below.
ALTERNATIVES
At the October 31, 2024 public hearing, the Commission proposed an alternate motion, which failed due to lack of a quorum, to recommend the Board take the actions proposed by staff with a change to recommended action No. 3: Adopt a Resolution to approve the IODS and adopt a second Resolution to approve the IDSG for all Community Regions and Rural Centers with the following amendment: Apply the architectural style requirements to the Shingle Springs Community Region only. Under this alternate motion, all projects in the Community Regions and Rural Centers would be subject to use-specific (i.e., multifamily, mixed-use, commercial) design standards, however, only the Shingle Springs Community Region would be subject to the architectural style requirements (e.g., Gold Rush, Railroad Craftsman) depicted in Section 6.0 of the IDSG. The purpose of the alternate motion was to limit the architectural style requirements to Shingle Springs so that the Shingle Springs Community Region could serve as a test of the effectiveness of the IDSG architectural style requirements during this interim phase. The Board has the option of approving this alternate motion instead of approving the final Commission recommendation.
In addition, the Board may direct staff to extend the timeline for the status update to the Planning Commission until the end of 2026 instead of 2025 to allow more permit and project data to be gathered. For example, based on recent permit data, there may be between one to two multifamily projects and approximately five Design Review Permits applied for each year. By requiring that staff provide an update to the Commission by 2026, staff could gather almost two years of data instead of ten months. Alternatively, the Board may elect to remove the one-year implementation status update entirely.
PRIOR BOARD ACTION
Please refer to the Discussion/Background section above.
OTHER DEPARTMENT / AGENCY INVOLVEMENT
Chief Administrative Office
County Counsel
Risk Management
CAO RECOMMENDATION
Approve as recommended.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
There is no change to Net County Cost associated with this item. Funding for the Interim Objective Design Standards project has been included in the Fiscal Year 2024-25 budget. Specifically, $180,141 of DTOT requests for staff funding were approved for Fiscal Year 2024-25 to assist with the creation of interim and then comprehensive Community Design Standards. Funding for services beyond Fiscal Year 2024-25 will be included in subsequent budgets accordingly.
CLERK OF THE BOARD FOLLOW UP ACTIONS
1) Clerk to obtain Chair’s signature on the original copy of the Ordinance.
2) Clerk to obtain Chair’s signature on the original copy of the Resolution.
3) Clerk to forward one (1) fully executed copy of the Ordinance to the Planning and Building Department, Planning Services, attention: Chris Smith.
4) Clerk to forward one (1) fully executed copy of the Resolution to the Planning and Building Department, Planning Services, attention: Chris Smith
STRATEGIC PLAN COMPONENT
Strategic Innovation
Priority: Improve external and internal service delivery in a more convenient and efficient way
Action Item: Identify one priority service delivery that needs improvement.
Safe and Healthy Communities
Priority: Develop a continuum of support and housing opportunities for unhoused individuals
Action Item: Develop a comprehensive plan for affordable housing opportunities.
CONTACT
Rob Peters, Deputy Director of Planning
Planning and Building Department