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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1977-04-25; City Council; 5059; Sewer moratorium ordinancev CITY OF CARLSBAD AGENDA BILL NO. DATE:April 25, 1Q77 DEPARTMENT:City Manager Initial: Dept.Hd. C. Atty. C. Mgr. ^ Subject: SEWER MORATORIUM ORDINANCE Statement of the Matter In accord with the action taken by the City Council at their meeting of April 19, 1977, two ordinances have been prepared to carry into effect, the sewer moratorium as declared by the Council. The ordinances attempt to incorporate the substance of the Public Works Administrator's recommendations, as approved by the Council, as well as policy input from the City Manager. Exhibit Report from City Manager dated April 26, 1977 Ordinance No. 7047 , urgency measure imposing a moratorium on issuance of building permits. Ordinance No. 7048 , urgency measure prohibiting application for and approval of discretionary approvals due to unavailability of sewer service subject to certain exceptions. Recommendation Adopt Ordinance No. urgency measures. 7047 and Ordinance No. 7048 as Council action 4-26-77 Ordinance No. 7047 and Ordinance No. 7048 were introduced and adopted as an urgency measure, imposing a moratorium oh the issuance of building permits and prohibiting the application for and approval of discretionary approvals due to the un- availability of sewer service subject to certain exceptions. HATE: APRIL 26, 1977 TO: CITY COUNCIL FROM: City Manager SUBJECT: SEWER MORATORIUM: DEVELOPMENT APPLICATIONS IN PROCESS At its April 19, 1977 meeting, the City Council directed the City Attorney to prepare appropriate moratorium ordinances to apply to new applications for building permits and to new applications for tentative maps. In discussing the preparation of these two ordinances, many complexities were discovered and the staff felt that it would be wise to expand the ordinances to cover certain situations not previously discussed. Since it is urgent that we adopt these ordinances to legally protect the City, we urge the Council to do so with the understanding that there will I robably be a need to amend the ordinances from time to Lime to deal with unforeseen matters. Depending on the nature of the amendment, some amendments may be done on an urgency basis, while others may require the normal 45 day period. It is difficult to discuss the moratorium itself, without discussing many of those planning matters which are in process. This memo has tried to touch on both issues but the staff has not yet put together all of the data which the Council may wish to have in considering its longer range actions. BUILDING PERMIT MORATORIUM The staff has prepared a list of all projects for which building permit applications have been made. It has been determined that sufficient sewer capacity remains for these projects. The ordinance prepared for your consideration, in addition to these projects, provides for a number of exceptions. Without reviewing each exception in detail, the exceptions are included either because sewer capacity has been reserved, such as for the Plaza Camino expansion, or because the project may need no additional capacity. In this category would fall the numerous remodeling and patio permits. Public buildings have also been excepted. Additionally, the Council can make a decision whether the project is of great enough public benefit and significance to approve it or not on a project by project review. Many public projects do not add the necessity for sewer capacity but merely redistribute the capacity requirement from other facilities. April 26, 1977 Page 2 Subject: Sewer Moratorium An exception has also been included for those projects which can provide approved alternate methods of disposal. As written, the ordinance would require these alternate methods to be written into the City code. DISCRETIONARY PERMIT MORATORIUM The staff in considering the moratorium for tentative map applications, has expanded the ordinance to cover most applications which would require a discretionary approval by the Planning Commission or the City Council, if that approval would have resulted in additional need for sewer capacity. This includes not only tentative maps, but zone changes, master plans, specific plans and site development plans under the "Q" zone, and general plan amendments. These were included because of their potential requirement for additional capacity prior to an allocation system being devised which might include conditions in their approval relative to that allocation system or might have been denied once an allocation system is developed. Again, as in the Building Permit Moratorium, the basic exceptions that have been provided for, are in cases where the application, if approved, would not add to sewer capacity requirements or where capacity has been specifically reserved. With the exception of the Palomar Airport annexation, annexations are not specifically covered. As a matter of policy, the staff will bring to the City Council's attention each annexation request made to the City. The Council can evaluate each such request to determine if it is justified and whether it will add to the required sewer capacity. It is fully within the Council's discretion to approve or deny such requests PLANS IN PROCESS The following general discussion does not directly apply to the moratorium and is primarily intended to provide a back- ground for further Council discussion relative to the handling of all the applications in process. Those items in process are shown on Exhibit A and B. All are covered by the building moratorium and even if approved, could not presently make application for a building permit. The City Council has several options relative to the processing of these applications. The City Attorney has prepared a detailed memo with specific findings and condition wording for those items continued from the April 19, 1977 Council meeting and it would be useful to read. April 26, 1977 Page 3 Subject: Sewer Moratorium Tentative Subdivision Maps. The first category of maps are those tentative's which have received all discretionary approvals and only require final approval. This category includes both maps with no sewer condition and those maps upon which a condition was placed indicating, that although sewer was available at the time of approval, it might not be available at the time building permits were requested. It is our recommendation that these maps be allowed to final. As a practical matter, it is not anticipated that many will final since bonding and financing will be difficult to obtain when there is little or no possibility of building. If the Council allows these maps to final, the City Engineer will attach an appropriate note to the final map prior to recordation, indicating that at the time of filing, sewers are unavailable. There are basically three methods of handling the remaining tentative maps in process. They are to, (a) approve the tentative map and allow it to final if the applicant wishes to do so, (b) disapprove all tentative maps in process or, (c) approve the tentative maps in process but add a note that sewers must be available at the time of filing prior to approval of the final map. It is this third course of action that the staff recommends be applied to those tentative maps which are presently being processed. i In making this recommendation it is recognized that there is little to differentiate a map in process from one where the applicant is ready to file an application but has been prevented from doing so by the moratorium. The assumption is that those presently being processed have had a greater investment of time and money and, therefore, deserve more attention. My conver- sations with developers over the last week have led me to believe that this generalization is not universally true, never- theless we would recommend approval of in process tentative maps, conditioned so that the final map may not be approved without adequate sewers. There is an issue that has been raised and the Council may wish to give it consideration. The City historically has accepted applications for building permits prior to final approval and recordation of the subdivision map. There are at least five tentative maps for which building permit applications have been accepted prior to 5:00 PM, April 19, 1977. They are: CT 76-11 Tamarack Shores - Hirsch 26 units CT 75-2 Carlsbad Meadows - Somers 54 units CT 77-4 Carlsbad Blvd. - S & L 6 units CT 74-14 (a) Templin Heights - Grosse 136 units CT 76-2 Royal Homes - McCoy 68 units April 26, 1977 Page 4 Subject: Sewer Moratorium Substantial work has been done on the grading plans of several of these maps and three have been issued model home permits. Because they all conform to the historical method of handling building permits, it is recommended that they be allowed to proceed if the final map is recorded. Other Discretionary Plans in Process. There are several master plan amendments in process with varying degrees of effort expended on staff review and, in most cases, extensive financial effort on the part of the applicant. It is recommended that these be allowed to continue to be processed but that they be conditioned with any necessary wording relative to the sewer issue and, in addition, that it be made clear that they would be subject to any future sewer allocation or growth management plan. Other discretionary approvals such as specific plans, con- ditional use permits, general plan amendments, or zone changes should be allowed to continue to process but each should be looked at carefully to see whether it should be approved or not, based on the sewer situation. As each day goes by, new information is developed or new questions asked. We will try to keep the Council informed concerning the various issues at each regular Council meeting. Although we have tried to consider the obvious situations which might arise, there will be new issues which come before your body and which will require adjustment in the moratorium ordinances and in our processing. PAUL D. BUSSEY City Manager PDB:ldg -•*, 03 00 • OC fj5 < <»-° < foil •1^2 O ^ —'u: • 5 <u, O z"| SoUJ H CM <as *"«Z p CO > F K 2 o u 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 ORDINANCE NO. 7047 AN EMERGENCY ORDINANCE AS AN URGENCY MEASURE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF CARLSBAD, CALIFORNIA, AMENDING CHAPTER 18.04 OF THE CARLSBAD MUNICIPAL CODE BY THE ADDITION OF SECTION 18.04.170 TO IMPOSE A MORATORIUM ON THE ISSUANCE OF BUILDING PERMITS IN THE CITY OF CARLSBAD DUE TO THE UNAVAILABILITY OF SEWER SERVICE SUBJECT TO CERTAIN EXCEPTIONS. The City Council of the City of Carlsbad, California, does ordain as follows: SECTION 1: That Title 18, Chapter 18.04, of the Carlsbad Municipal Code is amended by the addition of Section 18.04.170 to read as follows: "18.04.170 Moratorium - Sewer. Notwithstanding any provisions of this Chapter to the contrary, no building permit shall be issued, nor shall any application therefor be accepted, in the City of Carlsbad except as follows: 1. Permits for work in that portion of the City of Carlsbad within the service territory of the San Marcos or Leucadia County Water Districts may be processed upon the presentation by the applicant of a valid sewer connection permit from such district. Such permit shall be presented to the City of Carlsbad Building Department concurrently with the application for the building permit. The Director of Building and Housing shall verify that the permit is valid prior to issuance of the building permit. 2. Building permits may be processed and issued when the City Manager determines, pursuant to provisions of the Carlsbad Municipal' Code, that no new sewer connection permit would be necessary in connection with the work. The City Manager's determination may be appealed to the City Council whose decision shall be final. 3. Structures existing within the City of Carlsbad's sewer service area as of the date of this ordinance, being served by septic tanks, may obtain a sewer connection permit if the City's public Health Officer certifies that the septic tank has failed and constitutes a health hazard. 4. Permits for construction for the Plaza Camino Real expansion pursuant to the contract between the Plaza Camino Real, the City of Carlsbad and the Carlsbad Parking Authority dated November 5, 1975, may be processed and issued. 5. Building permits may be processed and issued for any public project undertaken by the City of Carlsbad. 6. Building permits may be processed and issued where the Carlsbad Municipal Code provides for an alternate method of sewage disposal. 7. The City Council may grant exceptions for projects of o to "S O u.O O itmo s*ui z o <c SE 1200 ELM AVENURLSBAD, CALIFORNIu 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 other governmental agencies if the City Council in its sole discretion determines that the project is necessary and in the public interest. 8, Building permits may issue for all those projects for which applications for building permits were on file in the Carlsbad Building Department as of 5 P.M. on April 19, 1977." DECLARATION OF URGENCY: This is an emergency ordinance adopted as an urgency measure pursuant to California Government Code Section 36937 and shall take effect immediately. The City of Carlsbad, by contract, owns certain capacity rights in the Encina Water Pollution Control Facility. The City Council has received a series of reports from its Public Works Administrator indicating that after taking into account the amount of sewer capacity required for building permits in process, governmental projects, certain contractural obligations, and other matters, the City of Carlsbad as of April 19, 1977 was at its capacity in the Encina Facility. It is not possible for the City of Carlsbad to exceed that capacity without violating provisions of Federal and State law and its contractural obligations to the other members of the Joint Encina Facility. Since the City of Carlsbad has no additional capacity rights in the sewer treatment plant, and no other currently available means of disposing of more sewage, the Council has no alternative but to impose a City-wide building moratorium until such time as there is some change in the situation. This action is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public health and safety since, in the absence of the moratorium, buildings could be constructed in the City without adequate provisions for the disposition of sewage which is a situation that is of immediate danger to tht public health, safety and welfare. EFFECTIVE DATE: This ordinance shall be effective 2. o O §£>2 8d I- «c * 3 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 immediately upon passage. The City Clerk of the City of Carlsbad shall certify to the adoption of this ordinance and cause it to be published once in the Carlsbad Journal within fifteen days after its adoption. CODIFCATION: This ordinance shall not be codified. INTRODUCED, PASSED AND ADOPTED at an adjourned regular meeting of the City Council of the City of Carlsbad, California held on the 26th day of April, 1977 by the following vote, to wit: AYES: Councilmen Frazee, Packard, Skotnicki and Councilwoman Casler NOES: Councilman Lewis ABSENT: None ~/~C ROBERT C. FRAZEE', Mayor ATTEST: MARGA&ET E. ADAMS, City Clerk (SEAL) 3. ' ' 1 '* s_ o en g c < en VINCENT F. BIONDO, JATTORNEY - CITY OF C1200 HUM AVENUElARLSBAD, CALIFORNIAU "* 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 ORDINANCE NQ. 7048 AN INTERIM ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF CARLSBAD, CALIFORNIA, ADOPTED AS AN URGENCY MEASURE PROHIBITING THE APPLI- CATION FOR AND APPROVAL OF DISCRETIONARY APPROVALS PURSUANT TO TITLE 20, OR TITLE 21, OF THE CARLSBAD MUNICIPAL CODE DUE TO THE UN- AVAILABILITY OF SEWER SERVICE SUBJECT TO CERTAIN EXCEPTIONS. WHEREAS, the City Council has by the adoption of an Emergency Ordinance declared a City-wide moratorium on the issuance of building permits due to the unavailability of sewer services; and WHEREAS, the Planning Department will undertake, by direction of the City Council, a comprehensive review of Title 20 regarding subdivisions, and Title 21 regarding zonings, in the- City of Carlsbad. Such review to take cognizance of the problem of the lack of sewer service and prepare recommendations as to whether or not the Municipal Code needs to be revised in order to deal with the situation in regards to discretionary land use approvals. Such recommendations to also include consideration of some form of allocation system in the event additional amounts of capacity become available to the City; and WHEREAS, the City Council has determined that it is necessary to protect the public safety, health and welfare to adopt this urgency measure as an interim ordinance prohibiting any further application for or approval of discretionary approvals to prevent adding increased demand to an already insufficient amount of sewer capacity and to insure that an allocation system, if adopted, fairly can apply to all. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED by the City Council of the u 0> O'u. Sj|9° iii£2i O •*; ~J-jis *Z l°"o o: " ^z p v> >t oc u u 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 City of Carlsbad, California, as follows: SECTION 1: That all processing and approval of discretion- ary entitlements pursuant to Title 20 or Title 21 of the Carlsbad Municipal Code as of the effective date of this ordinance is hereby prohibited subject to the following exceptions: 1. Applications for approvals located within that portion of the City of Carlsbad within the service territory of the San Marcos or Leucadia County Water Districts may be accepted and processed provided the applicant submits in conjunction with his application a letter from such district indicating that the sewer services are available in connection with the development. The application may be approved if the City Council finds that sever service remains available and will continue to remain available concurrent with need in connection with the development. 2. Applications for conditional use permits, variances, reversions to acreage, certificates of compliance and adjustment plots may be accepted, processed and approved if the City Manager determines that the approval of such item will not require any new sewer connection permit. The City Manager's determination may be appealed to the City Council, whose decision shall be final. 3. Discretionary approvals in connection with the Plaza Camino Real expansion may be processed, accepted and approved. 4. Any necessary applications for projects undertaken by the City of Carlsbad may be accepted, processed and approved. 5. The City Manager is authorized to take all the steps necessary to proceed with the annexation of the Palomar Airport and any .applications necessary in that regard may be accepted, processed and approved. 2. m</)_i • cc ' O O". S ^ §p 8 O 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 zS8 D 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 6. Any application for which the Carlsbad Municipal Code provides an alternative method of sewer disposal for the project site, may be accepted, processed and approved. 7. The City Council may grant exceptions for projects of other governmental agencies if the City Council in its sole discretion determines that the project is necessary and in the public interest. 8. The staff may continue to process and the City Council may consider whether or not to approve applications which were on file with the City of Carlsbad on or before April 19, 1977. SECTION 2: This Interim Ordinance is adopted as an urgency measure pursuant to California Government Code Section 65858 for the reasons set out in the recitals hereto and shall take effect immediately. | SECTION 3: The City Clerk of the City of Carlsbad shall certify to the adoption of this ordinance and cause it to be (published once in the Carlsbad Journal within fifteen days after its adoption. APPROVED, PASSED AND ADOPTED at an adjourned regular meeting of the City Council of the City of Carlsbad, California, held on the 26th day of April, 1977 by the following vote, to wit: AYES: Councilmen Frazee, Lewis, Packard, Skotnicki and NOES: None ABSENT: None CounciIwoman Casler ATTEST: ROBERT C. FRAZEE, Mgfyo MAKGASET E. ADAMS7, City Clerk (SEAL) 3.