HomeMy WebLinkAboutPC 01-09-2013 Item 1 Staff ReportC H U L A VISTA
Resolution of the City of Chula Vista Planning Commission
recommending that the City of Chula Vista City Council approve
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ordinances amending various sections of Chula Vista Municipal Code
Title 19 (Zoning Ordinance) related to special events, temporary outside
sales and temporary promotional sign permit regulations; and amending
Title 18 (Subdivision Ordinance) related to administrative procedures for
the subdivision of land.
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SU�MITTED BY: Michael W. Walker, Senior Planner and Tom Adler, Land Development
Manager
REVIEWED BY: Gary Halbert, Development Services Director /Assistant City Manager
DUCTION
In early 2009, the Development Services Department launched a comprehensive review of the
City's development review process to determine improvements that could streamline it, increase
transparency, improve public access, make it more predictable for applicants and reduce the cost
of Oroject review, permitting, and inspection. The review has been named the Process
Improvement Program and consists of staff committees and an Oversight Committee made up of
members of the public. The item for consideration this evening is to amend various sections of
the Chula Vista Municipal Code (CVMC) Title 19 (Zoning Ordinance) related to special events;
temf iorary outside sales; and temporary promotional signs, and Title 18 (Subdivision Ordinance).
The proposed process improvements will streamline the special event permit review process by
incr asing clarity in the application process and consolidating the review process. For Tentative
Map 3, the hearing process will be reduced from two hearings to one and delegated to the
Plan 'ng Commission.
ONMENTAL REVIEW
The Development Services Director has reviewed the proposed activity for compliance with the
Calitornia Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and has determined that the activity is not a
"Protect" as defined under Section 15378 of the State CEQA Guidelines; therefore, pursuant to
Section 15060(c)(3) of the State CEQA Guidelines the activity is not subject to CEQA. No
environmental review is necessary.
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RECOMMENDATION
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the Planning Commission conduct the public hearing and recommend to the City Council
oval of the proposed amendments to Chula Vista Municipal Code Title 19 and Title 18.
DISICUSSION
In early 2009, the Development Services Department initiated a review of the City's
dev lopment processes to determine what improvements could be made to reduce redundancy,
adm nistrative costs and processing timelines while increasing opportunities for public input and
revi�w. The effort is referred to as the Process Improvement Program (PIP). A staff committee
was convened to identify a series of short and long term issues that needed to be addressed to
improve the development review process, and in the spring of 2009, a 25 member Development
Services Oversight Committee ( "Oversight Committee ") was formed to work with staff in
iden ifying additional areas that needed improvement and assist in developing workable
solutions. The Oversight Committee is comprised of developers, business owners, community
orgarlizations, engineers, architects, and contractors. In 2010, numerous improvements were
madp to the development review process as part of Phase 1 of the PIP.
the last year, the Oversight Committee has been meeting about quarterly to review and
ide input on draft work products developed by staff. Numerous process improvement efforts
pursued including the items before the Planning Commission this evening related to the
ial Events Permit Process and the Tentative Map Approval process.
A. Special Event Permit Process
One of the areas identified for improvement efforts was the City's special event permit process.
Representatives for the Olympic Training Center (OTC), a repeat customer of the City's special
P Y P
event process, asked City staff to consider changes to the permit process that would result in
sim ler, less cumbersome process. Furthermore, the current special event permit process
narrowly limits events to four types: grand openings; business anniversaries, change of business
address; and change of ownership or lessee. However, over the years several other types of
spec al events have been permitted through the special event permit process. Some including, but
not limited to, annual events at the Olympic Training Center, South Bay Motor Sports, car
sho s, and events at Cricket Amphitheater are much larger events that require coordination of
multiple departments.
In response to OTC's request, staff representing Development Planning, Traffic Engineering,
Fire and Building evaluated the Special Event permit process as well as the Temporary Outside
Sales and Temporary Promotional Sign permit process. Staff held several meetings to evaluate
the current permit process, application form and the applicable codes.
Afte much discussion focused on providing greater clarity and consistency to the process, staff
reco ended that the special events permit process be separated into two types of permits,
minor promotional events and major special events. Minor promotional events would include
gran4 openings, change of business ownership, business anniversaries and other similar events
held ion private property typically related to the business. Major special events are events held
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on public property and/or require two or more secondary permits (e.g. for use of generators and
larg tents /canopies) from other departments and are not typically related to a particular business.
The; Development Services Department will process minor promotional events held on private
property such as grand openings, business anniversaries or change of address, change of
ownership, health fairs and other promotional events in the manner stated above. The City
Manager's office will continue to process major events held on public property, and is currently
con idering processing major events held on private property such as at the Olympic Training
Cen er and South Bay Motor Sports, and events that require multiple secondary permits from
othe departments, such as Fire, Building and/or Police. The processing change will help
cu0mers distinguish between minor promotional events and major special events.
Improvements were also identified for the permit application process. Currently, the special
event permit is processed over - the - counter after which, customers leave with an application form
having staff approval signatures from Planning, Traffic Engineering, Fire and in some cases
Police. The customer may leave with the impression that they are done with the permit process;
ho ver, some events require structural permits for items such as generators, tents or canopies
from Fire and/or Building. Customers may also be required to schedule an inspection triggered
by these additional permits prior to the event, but in many instances the events come and go
without benefit of inspections. The current process does not track the workflow for these permits,
which causes confusion for both staff and customers. Permit tracking through workflow specific
to promotional events, temporary outside sales and temporary sign permits will be created within
the ity's Permits Plus database. Efficient permit tracking will improve customer service by
ena ling the customer to schedule a pending inspection the same day they are obtaining the
nernhits.
Staff also proposes to simplify the permit application. The application will incorporate templates
for acceptable temporary sign locations, and will reflect the recommended processing changes
described above. Providing more application information for customers up front should enable
the to prepare more complete applications enabling them to move more quickly through the
Citysreview process. The over - the - counter review process will also be enhanced b combining
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PI ing and Traffic Engineering staff review eliminating an extra review step. (See Attachment
5 - rocess Flow Chart).
The following is a summary of the proposed amendments to CVMC Title 19 related to the
Spe4ial Event Permit process. Attachment 1 provides the detailed strikeout underline text of the
rele4ant sections of Title 19.
Section 19.58.370: Temporary outside sales permits will be approved by the Director of
Development Services instead of the Zoning Administrator, and temporary holiday sales
(e.g. Christmas tree and pumpkin patch lots) may be permitted to operate without time and
ermit number limitations. To ensure sufficient time to obtain all needed approvals and
inspections, applicants will be required to submit applications 15 business days prior to the
event. Signage associated with temporary outside sales or promotional events will be
regulated by the existing code section for Temporary Promotional Signs (see CVMC
19.60.500(C)).
Section 19.58.380: This section is recommended to be repealed because the regulations
provided are already addressed in both CVMC Sections 19.58.370 and 19.60.500. Minor
promotional events are temporary and are typically related to a temporary outside sales
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events or other promotional events and most often include temporary promotional signs.
CVMC 19.58.370 as well as section 19.60.500(C) currently provides location and signage
requirements.
Section 19.60.500(C): Minor changes are proposed for the existing section regarding
Temporary Promotional Sign to reflect the changes noted above.
B. 11 Tentative Map Approval Process
Another area identified for process improvement is the Tentative Map approval process. The
land, development process related to the subdivision of land is primarily composed of two phases:
The Tentative Map phase where the subdivider provides the overall plan for the
development and the City sets forth the conditions for development. This phase is
discretionary, it provides the property owner with the entitlement to subdivide their property
but there is no actual subdivision of land. Environmental review pursuant to the California
Environmental Quality Act is conducted at this phase and requires that the impacts be
(disclosed to the decision makers prior to making the discretionary decision.
The Final Map phase, a non - discretionary final approval, where the land is
jsubdivided. The approval of Final Maps is currently delegated to the City Engineer.
The
the
actually
Subdivision Map Act (Section 66542.1(b)) allows for the approval of Tentative Maps by an
gory agency, such as the Planning Commission, rather than by the legislative body, such as
'.ity Council, if authorized by ordinance. Consistent with this provision, the proposed
Dance changes to Title 18 affect the Tentative Map phase and delegates what was formerly
Council approval to the Planning Commission. Table 1 summarizes the detailed strikeout
rline text of the relevant sections of CVMC Title 18 (Attachment 2).
Table 1
City Council.
18.13.60 Allows for extension requests to be filed within 90 of an
expiring vesting Tentative Map.
StaO recommends that Tentative Map approval be delegated to the Planning Commission for the
follol'wing reasons:
« Decision making is delegated with one body making the decision at a public hearing. The
process is more efficient with less time spent on multiple agenda preparation processes,
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such as duplicative staff reports and public noticing.
• As with all other discretionary actions, the decision to approve a Tentative Map made by
the Planning Commission can be appealed by any interested party to the City Council.
ON -MAKER CONFLICTS
Staff has reviewed the decision contemplated by this action and has determined that it is not site-
specific and consequently, the 500 -foot rule found in California Code of Regulations Section
18704.2(a) (1) is not applicable to this decision. Staff is not independently aware, nor has staff
be informed by any Planning Commission member, of any other fact that may constitute a
bas's for a decision -maker conflict of interest in this matter.
CONCLUSION
Thej proposed CVMC amendments and modification to the current permit process will: 1)
broc, den types of promotional events held on private property; 2) distinguish between
promotional and major special events; 3) clarify permit requirements and eliminate redundancies
in tl.e code; 4) improve permit tracking for a more efficient permit process; and 5) provide more
app 'cation information for customers enabling them to be better prepared for the process. Title
18 mendments will delegate the approval of Tentative Maps and Vesting Tentative Maps from
the ity Council to the Planning Commission. Appeals will be considered by the City Council.
Staff recommends the proposed amendments to Title 19 Sections 19.58.380 — Special Events;
19. 58 .370 — Temporary Outside Sales; and 19.60.500(C) — Temporary Promotional Signs, and
Titl 18 Section 18.12 and 18.13 related to Tentative Maps.
IMPACT
The Process Improvement Program has been developed to reduce redundancy, costs and
proc ssing timelines, and to improve opportunities for public input in the development review
proc ss. The administrative costs for the development of the program have been included in the
De4onment Services Fund.
The application fees and processing costs for individual special event, temporary outside sales
and emporary promotional sign permits, and Tentative Maps are established by the Master Fee
Sch ule and paid for by the Applicant.
2.
3.
4.
5.
meats
Draft Amendments to Zoning Ordinance (Title 19) related to Temporary Outside Sales;
Special Events; and Temporary Promotional Signs
Draft Amendments to CVMC Title 18
Draft Resolution PCM -12 -42
Draft Ordinance 2013 -
Process Flow Chart