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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2010-10-12; City Council; CS-110; EXTENDING URGENCY ORDINANCE POWER GENERATION FACILITES...4 COASTAL ZONE FOR TWELVE MONTHS. 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 EXHIBIT 1 ORDINANCE NO. CS-110 AN URGENCY ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF CARLSBAD, CALIFORNIA, EXTENDING URGENCY ORDINANCE NO. CS-067 PROHIBITING THE EXPANSION OR LOCATION OF THERMAL ELECTRIC POWER GENERATION FACILITIES WITHIN CARLSBAD'S 5 WHEREAS, at its regular meeting of October 20, 2009, the City Council 6 adopted Urgency Ordinance No. CS-067 prohibiting any new or expanded thermal electric 7 power generation facilities located in Carlsbad's Coastal Zone; and 8 WHEREAS, Government Code section 65858 authorizes extension of said 9 emergency interim ordinance, after notice and hearing, by a four-fifths vote for up to ten (10) 10 months and fifteen (15) days; and a subsequent extension for up to one additional year; and11 WHEREAS, at its regular meeting of December 1, 2009, the City Council adopted Urgency Ordinance No. CS-070 extending Urgency Ordinance CS-067 by ten (10) 1 O months and fifteen (15) days to expire October 20, 2010, prohibiting any new or expanded thermal electric power generation facilities located in Carlsbad's Coastal Zone; and WHEREAS, pursuant to Government Code section 65858(d), a written report prepared by planning staff describing the measures taken to alleviate the conditions which led to the adoption of the interim ordinance was made available to the public on October 1, 2010, and was issued by the City Council in substantially the same form on October 5, 2010, more than ten days prior to the expiration of CS-070 on October 20, 2010; and WHEREAS, this interim ordinance is adopted pursuant to Government Code section 65858(a) allowing the extension of such urgency ordinance by a four-fifths vote of its 23 legislative body for a subsequent one additional year, and 24 WHEREAS, the Public Utility Zone was established and created in 1971; and 25 WHEREAS, that zone has not been studied or substantially amended since 26 that time; and 27 28 M -1 - 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 WHEREAS, the General Plan designation establishing a public utilities land use classified "U" was established October 15,1974 and has not been substantially reviewed or amended since that time; and WHEREAS, the City needs additional time to comprehensively study both the General Plan and Public Utilities Zones in order to determine whether or not, due to the passage of time and advances in technology, existing standards are no longer appropriate or sufficient to protect the health, safety and welfare of its citizens; and WHEREAS, public utilities, without distinction between electrical energy generation, gas generation, water utilities, treatment of waste water processing and disposal utilities and other public utilities are permitted within that designation upon obtaining a Specific Plan, Precise Development Plan or similar actions adopted by ordinance and none of these uses are a conditional use within that designation; and WHEREAS, the San Diego Gas and Electric Company (SDG&E) constructed the existing Encina Power Station in approximately 1952 and prior to the General Plan designation establishing a public utilities land use and implementing zone; and WHEREAS, the Agua Hedionda Local Coastal Plan (LCP) was adopted in 1982 which pertained to the properties then owned by SDG&E including the Encina Power Station; and WHEREAS, the LCP contains numerous regulations and restrictions which impact the Encina Power Station site including those related to public access, land use, recreation, agriculture, aquaculture, visual impacts and uses of the lagoon; and WHEREAS, in 1999, SDG&E sold a significant portion of its holdings within Specific Plan 144 to Cabrillo Power LLC, now known as the Carlsbad Energy Center LLC, including the Encina Power Station and outer, middle, and inner basins of the Agua Hedionda Lagoon; and -2- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 WHEREAS, the Carlsbad Energy Center LLC ("Applicant") filed a Notice of Intention on September 14, 2007 with the California Energy Commission ("CEC") for the development of the Carlsbad Energy Center Project (CECP), a 558-megawatt (MW) gross combined-cycle power generating facility; and WHEREAS, the CECP represents an expansion of the Encina Power Station; and WHEREAS, the CEC has notified the City that the proposed Encina Power Station site is the prime candidate for expansion because of the ready availability of land and existing electric utility related infrastructure; and WHEREAS, at the time the existing Encina Power Station was established it required a daily need for hundreds of millions of gallons of once-through cooling ocean water to operate the plant and generate electricity; and WHERAS, with current technology, thermal electric power generation facilities no longer require ocean water for cooling and as such are no longer considered coastal- dependent land uses; and WHEREAS, the construction of the addition to the existing plant will have significant effects on the environment including impacts to existing visual blight; and WHEREAS, the construction and expansion of the existing plant will add pollutants and noxious emissions to the environment affecting the health, safety and welfare of the citizens of Carlsbad and its environs; and WHEREAS, the construction and expansion of the existing plant will affect the fish and wildlife ecosystem of the Agua Hedionda Lagoon; and WHEREAS, expansion of the Encina Power Station may be prejudicial to other proposed nearby land uses; and -3- WHEREAS, the expansion to the Encina Power Station will require increased fossil fuel consumption and expose the citizens of Carlsbad to additional environmental risks; 3 and WHEREAS. The City intends to study the appropriateness of the General4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 23 24 25 26 27 28 Plan land use designation for the site; and WHEREAS, construction of the CECP may be in conflict with a zoning proposal which the City Council intends to study; and WHEREAS, processing and approval of the CECP, until these studies are completed and the General Plan and zoning districts amended, would severely prejudice the ability of the City to permit, conditionally permit or prohibit expansion or location of thermal electric power generation facilities at this location or at other locations; and 19 WHEREAS, the City Council has determined for the reasons stated above, 13 such expansion of the existing Encina Power Station represents a current and immediate 14 threat to the public health, safety and welfare. 15 NOW, THEREFORE, the City Council of the City of Carlsbad ordains as 16 follows: 17 SECTION 1: That the above recitations are true and correct. 18 SECTION 2: That the proposed CECP represents a current and 19 immediate threat to the public health, safety, and welfare to the Citizens of Carlsbad. 20 SECTION 3: No development application shall be accepted, processed or approved which would increase the size, location, generating capacity or use of the existing Encina Power Station or allow the establishment of any other thermal electric power generation facility within the Coastal Zone. SECTION 4: That the Memorandum to the City Manager dated September 27, 2010 titled "Encina Power Plant Land Use Analysis" constitutes the written report of the City Council describing the measures taken to alleviate the condition which led -4- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 g 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 to the adoption of the Urgency Ordinance as required by Section 65858(d) of the California Government Code. SECTIONS: That Ordinance No. CS-067 is extended for twelve (12) months. DECLARATION OF URGENCY: This ordinance is hereby declared to be an emergency ordinance adopted as an urgency measure to protect the public health, safety and welfare and shall take effect immediately upon its adoption. The facts constituting the emergency are set forth in Ordinance No. CS-067 and Council Resolution No. 2009-263, dated 10/20/2009 on file with the City Clerk and made a part of hereof and represent a current and immediate threat to the public health, safety and welfare of the citizens of Carlsbad. EFFECTIVE: This interim ordinance as amended shall be effective immediately upon passage and shall be of no further force and effect after twelve (12) months of the date of its adoption unless extended by the City Council according to law. The City Clerk of the City of Carlsbad shall certify to the adoption of this ordinance and cause it to be published within 15 days after its adoption. -5- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 PASSED, APPROVED AND ADOPTED at a Regular Meeting of the City Council of the City of Carlsbad on the 12th day of October 2010, by the following vote to wit: AYES: Council Members Kulchin, Hall, Packard and Blackburn. NOES: None. ABSENT: Council Member Lewis. APPROVED AS TO FORM AND LEGALITY PAUL EDMONSON, Assistant City Attorney -_/K^L ANN ATTEST: ayor Pro Tem (SEAL)<oo^$W'^ £°>>fe^^/ssk^fe^t