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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2006-65 - City Attorney to Prepare Impartial AnalysisRESOLUTION NO. 2006-65 A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF NEWPORT BEACH, CALIFORNIA, DIRECTING THE CITY ATTORNEY TO PREPARE AN IMPARTIAL ANALYSIS WHEREAS, a General Municipal Election is to be held in the City of Newport Beach, California, on Tuesday, November 7, 2006, at which there will be submitted to the voters the following measure: MEASURE Shall the ordinance requiring preparation of a specific plan for any development project, except in portions of Newport Coast, that individually or in combination with other projects in the neighborhood approved during the preceding five years, adds more than 100 dwelling units, 40,000 square feet of floor area or 100 peak hour trips when compared to the existing condition of the neighborhood; and action by the City Council; and submittal to the voters, be adopted? The precise wording of the measure to be submitted to voters pursuant to this Section is attached as Exhibit A. NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF NEWPORT BEACH, CALIFORNIA, DOES RESOLVE, DECLARE, DETERMINE AND ORDER AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. That the City Council directs the City Clerk to transmit a copy of the measure to the City Attorney. The City Attorney shall prepare an impartial analysis of the measure showing the effect of the measure on the existing law and the operation of the measure. The impartial analysis shall be filed by the date set by the City Clerk for the filing of primary arguments. SECTION 2. That the City Clerk shall certify to the passage and adoption of this resolution and enter it into the book of original resolutions. iW4�4 uww. .010 Purpose. This Chapter gives voters the power to prevent Newport Beach from becoming an overbuilt and traffic- congested city by requiring preparation and Voter Approval of Specific Plans for Major Developments. The City's circulation system is already congested beyond current city standards and inadequate to support the current "As Built Condition" of the City. High - density developments and construction of increasingly larger buildings threaten the character and quality of neighborhoods throughout the City. Specific Plans will ensure better planning and provide voters with the information needed to make informed decisions about Major Development proposals. .020 Voter Approval of Major Development Projects. A Specific Plan shall be prepared for all Major Development proposals. Following adoption by the City Council, Major Development Specific Plans shall be submitted to the voters for final approval. .030 Application. This Chapter applies to all applications for Major Developments in the City of Newport Beach that have an Application Date later than the date the "Notice of Intent to Circulate this Petition" was filed with the City Clerk. .040 Election Procedures. .041 City approval of a Major Development proposal shall be final only after its Specific Plan has been submitted to the voters and approved by a majority of those voting on it. Each Specific Plan for a Major Development proposal shall be submitted to a public vote as a separate and distinct ballot measure regardless of whether its approval by the City Council was combined with other Developments, projects or General Plan Amendments. Each Specific Plan for a Major Development shall be identified on the ballot in a manner that clearly identifies the project it applies to, i.e. "Specific Plan for XYZ Development ". The City Council shall set any election required by this Chapter for the municipal election next following city council approval of the Major Development Specific Plan or by mutual agreement with the Proponent, the City Council may call a special election with the cost of the special election being shared by their mutual agreement. An advisory election prior to council approval of a Major Development Specific Plan does not satisfy the voter approval requirements of this Chapter. .042 The vote required by this Chapter shall be in addition to all other applicable approval requirements for Major Development proposals, including environmental review. However, all subsequent approvals required to implement a Major Development Specific Plan approved by the voters in accordance with this Chapter shall be in substantial conformance with the Specific Plan submitted to the voters, and under no circumstances, shall a subsequent approval authorize greater traffic, density or intensity than was represented to the voters. .050 Specific Plan Requirements. .051 Specific Plans required by this Chapter shall be prepared in accordance with Section 65450 et seq. of the Government Code and shall include all information deemed necessary by City Council or Planning Director. In addition, all Specific Plans for Major Developments shall include the following information: a. Project Description. Include a plot plan or diagram, drawn to scale, showing the arrangement of buildings, driveways, pedestrian ways, off - street parking and off- street loading areas, landscaped areas, fences and walks. Include drawings, renderings or sketches, drawn to scale, showing all elevations of the proposed buildings as they would appear upon completion. b. Neighborhood Compatibility. Describe the project's consistency or lack of consistency with existing Neighborhood uses, i.e. commercial, residential etc. To the extent the proposed project differs from existing uses, identify the implementation measures including regulations that would be used minimize adverse neighborhood impacts. c. Summer Traffic Analysis. In addition to traffic studies otherwise required by the City, analyze the project's impact on peak traffic levels during the months of July and August. The analysis shall, at minimum, include a survey of existing traffic levels during July or August at a time and date the City's traffic engineer determines is best for determining peak summer traffic levels. Identify the implementation measures including regulations that would be used to minimize summer traffic impacts. d. Significant Increases in Traffic, Density or Intensity. Describe the Significant Increases in Traffic, Density or Intensity, as defined in this Chapter that would result from the Major Development proposal. Identify the implementation measures including regulations that would be used to minimize any adverse impacts. .052 Where applicable, existing Specific Plans may be amended to include the additional sections required by this Chapter in lieu of preparing an entirely new specific plan. Voter approval of the amendment in accordance with this Chapter shall be required. .053 To minimize delay for affected applicants, the City may process and approve discretionary applications required for a Major Development prior to a public vote on its Specific Plan, provided, however, that all approvals shall be provisional and only become final and effective if the applicable Specific Plan has been approved by the voters. If the applicable Specific Plan is not approved by the voters, the Specific Plan and all provisional approvals shall be automatically deemed disapproved. .060 Exceptions. 1) Remodeling, construction or reconstruction of a single building by individual property owners in R -1, R -1.5 or R -2 zoned parcels are not included in this Chapter. 2) The provisions of this Chapter shall not apply to the extent that they would violate state or federal laws. 3) This Chapter shall not be applied in a manner that would result in the unconstitutional taking of private property. 4) This Chapter shall not apply to any Major or Minor Developments that have received all discretionary approvals prior to the Effective Date in Section .090 below. 5) This Chapter does not apply to construction of public utilities or public transit facilities. 6) This Chapter does not apply to affordable housing projects required by state or federal law. 7) This Chapter does not apply to construction of public schools or hospitals. 8) This Chapter does not apply to properties within the Newport Coast Statistical Area "N," described and shown on City of Newport Beach Statistical Areas Map dated March 2005 that remain subject to County of Orange municipal land use and permitting authority. This Chapter shall apply to properties within Statistical Area "N" for which responsibility for municipal land use and permitting responsibility has been transferred to the City of Newport Beach, except to the extent such application would cause the City to violate legal and/or contractual commitments regarding development of the properties. .070 Relationships to City Charter Section 423 and Municipal Code. 1) Should a conflict arise that cannot be reconciled, the provisions of Charter Section 423 shall prevail over this Chapter. The provisions of this Chapter shall supersede all conflicting provisions of the Municipal Code either existing or adopted in the future except those adopted by a vote of the people. 2) If a Major Development Specific Plan proposal includes a related General Plan Amendment ( "GPA ") that requires a Charter Section 423 vote, the two may be combined into one ballot measure that will satisfy the requirements of this Chapter, provided that no other Development project or GPA is included as part of the same ballot measure. 3) Each Major Development Specific Plan not approved as part of a City Charter Section 423 vote shall require approval by the electorate under the terms of this Chapter notwithstanding previous voter approval of the General Plan Amendment. .080 Amendments. This Chapter shall not be amended or repealed except by a vote of the people. .090 Effective Date. If the voters at a scheduled election approve this Chapter, the effective date for purposes of this Chapter shall be retroactive to the date of the filing of the Notice of Intent to Circulate its enabling petition. .100 Definitions. "As Built Condition" refers to residential units, buildings, and traffic existing on the Application Date. "Application Date" is the date a request for approval of a Development proposal is first submitted to the City. "Development" is a discretionary "project" as defined in the California Environmental Quality Act (Public Resources Code § 21000 et seq.), the CEQA Guidelines, and relevant decisional law without regard to whether any environmental document is required for the project. "General Plan" is the General Plan of the City of Newport Beach adopted on October 24, 1988 as subsequently amended and in force at the time of filing of the Notice of Intent to Circulate this Initiative. "Major Development" is aproposed Development that would "Significantly Increase Traffic, Density or Intensity above the "As Built Condition" of a "Neighborhood ". "Minor Development" refers to all Developments that do not qualify as a Major Development. "Neighborhood" is all property within 500 feet of any parcel or lot that that is part of a Development proposal. If a portion of a legal lot or parcel is within 500 feet of a Development proposal, the entire lot or parcel shall be included in the neighborhood "Peak Hour Trips" means the number of peak hour vehicle trips that would be generated by a proposed Development, as defined and calculated using the most recent version of the Trip Generation Manual of the Institute of Transportation Engineers ( "ITE Manual ") in effect on the Application Date of the Development. "Proponent" is the Property owner and/or authorized applicant for a Development. "Significantly Increase" means exceeding one or more of the following thresholds over the present As Built Condition of a Neighborhood: Traffic - over 100 additional Peak Hour Trips; Density - over 100 additional dwelling units; Intensity over 40,000 additional square feet of floor area. Intensity of a Development includes the square footage of all dwelling units and commercial buildings including hotels, timeshares, theaters if they are developed on the same property as any of these commercial land use categories. A Significant Increase occurs if a Development proposal on its own exceeds one of these thresholds or if the combination of a Minor Development proposal and other Minor Developments in the same Neighborhood that were approved within five years of the Application Date exceed one of the thresholds. "Other Minor Developments" shall not include those approved pursuant to this Chapter nor approved prior to the Effective Date of this Chapter. "Specific Plan" for purposes of this Chapter means a specific plan or specific plan amendment that complies with Government Code section 65450 et.Seq. and this Chapter. (End of amendment. But the proposed ballot measure also includes the following "Second" through "Seventh ".) Second. Findings. (1) The people of Newport Beach find that their quality of life and property values are severely impacted by excess development, with its overcrowding, traffic congestion and gridlock. (2) The City's street system has not kept up with the City's growth and traffic congestion has resulted. To prevent this situation, state law requires the land Use Element of the General Plan to be consistent with the Circulation Element. But this doesn't help, because land uses are built promptly, while the street system will be built in the fixture or never as it is subject to funding availability and community acceptance of over passes and wider roads. (3) Traffic Engineers measure congestion in Intersection Capacity Utilization (ICU). The people find that any ICU over the current City standard of 0.9000 is unacceptable congestion. There are already six intersections in the City with ICU over 0.900. (4) The people, whose quality of life and Property Rights are at stake, should have the power to judge the merits of a proposed development. They should have the power to decide if a proposed Major Development is worth the congestion and density it will cause beyond that which can be accommodated by the Circulation Element as it exists at that time, including roadway projects that are funded and certain to be constructed within the following three years. Third. Implementation. 1. It is the intent of this Chapter of the City of Newport Beach Municipal Code that, to the maximum extent permitted by law, it be applied to all Major Development proposals that have not received final, discretionary approval as of its effective date. However, this Chapter shall not apply to a Development for which the Proponent has obtained a: (i) vested right pursuant to state law; (ii) final approval and execution of a Development Agreement authorized by the California Government Code; or (iii) approval of a vesting tentative map. 2. The City Council is encouraged to adopt guidelines to implement the foregoing Chapter following public notice and public hearing, provided that any such guidelines shall be consistent with this. Any such guidelines shall be adopted and amended only by the affirmative votes of not less than six members of the City Council. 3. All ballot measures required by this Chapter shall be worded such that a YES vote approves the Major Development Specific Plan and a NO vote rejects the Major Development Specific Plan, and any such election in which the ballot measure is not so worded shall be void and shall have no effect. 4. The ballot pamphlet describing the ballot measure shall contain both Pro and Con Arguments about the Measure and Rebuttals by both Pro and Con proponents if they so desire. The City Council is encouraged to select outside proponents and opponents of the measure to prepare arguments, instead of its own members. Fourth. Defense. The City shall vigorously defend this Chapter and its underlying initiative against any legal challenge. Fifth. Special Election. In the event that this Initiative is signed by 15% of the valid registered voters in the City of Newport Beach at the time of the filing of the notice of intent to circulate it, the City Council is requested to call a special election at the earliest date permitted by the State Election Code under these circumstances. Sixth. Construction. Nothing herein shall be construed to make illegal any lawful use presently being made of any land in accordance with the land use regulations, in force at the time of filing of the Notice of Intent to Circulate Petition. Seventh. Severability. If any part of this initiative is declared invalid on its face or as applied to a particular case, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining parts, or their application to other cases. It is hereby declared that each part of this initiative would have been adopted irrespective of the fact that any one or more other parts be declared invalid. I <1Z z Map No. 1 1: ITE, X- C3 C3L tr - Co �A 1: 0) co 0 to 1: STATE OF CALIFORNIA } COUNTY OF ORANGE } as. CITY OF NEWPORT BEACH } I, LaVonne M. Harkless, City Clerk of the City of Newport Beach, California, do hereby certify that the whole number of members of the City Council is seven; that the foregoing resolution, being Resolution No. 2006 -65 was duly and regularly introduced before and adopted by the City Council of said City at a regular meeting of said Council, duly and regularly held on the 11th day of July 2006, and that the same was so passed and adopted by the following vote, to wit: Ayes: Curry, Selich, Rosansky, Daigle, Nichols, Mayor Webb Noes: None Absent: Ridgeway Abstain: None IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto subscribed my name and affixed the official seal of said City this 12h day of July 2006. City Clerk Newport Beach, California