It is recommended that the City Council adopt the following ordinance:

Planning Commission Review
The Development Code Update was initially reviewed by the Planning Commission on October 10, 2023. The Planning Commission continued the item to October 24th and subsequently to a November 1st special meeting, directing staff to advertise the meeting on social media and to make the following revisions related to fence/wall height, emergency shelters, home occupations, massage parlors/health and beauty spas, mobile services, outdoor dining, protected tree tree-trimming threshold, and emergency tree-trimming. 

The Planning Commission voted 3-2 to recommend that the City Council adopt the new Development Code and related General Plan land-use map and negative declaration, indicating that if the wireless notification radius has to be reduced (draft Development Code included a 1,000-foot notification radius at the time of review), the Planning Commission is recommending a notification radius no less than 800 feet.

City Council Review
The City Council held a public hearing and introduced Ordinance No. 2519 at the January 16, 2024 City Council meeting. Prior to introducing the Ordinance, the City Council adopted Resolution No. 2024-4, adopting the Negative Declaration for the Development Code Update and Resolution No. 2024-5, approving General Plan Amendment No. 23-02. The City Council voted introduce the Ordinance with the following revisions:

1. Require wireless telecommunication facilities on established land-uses (non-public right-of-way) to be at least 1,500 feet from any single-family residence and multifamily residential (MF) zones. 
2. Ensure that the property owner notification radius for projects involving any public utilities is 1,000 feet (radius).
3. Require the installation of mechanical equipment related to wireless telecommunication facilities underground. 

Ordinance No. 2519 has been revised to reflect the City Council's direction during the January 16, 2024 public hearing. 

Section 26-187(c) has not changed and requires a notice of public hearing for public utility facilities (including wireless telecommunication facilities) be mailed to owners of all property within a radius of one thousand (1,000) feet from the subject site’s property lines.

Section 26-136 (Wireless Telecommunication facilities within all Land Uses) of the Development Code has been revised to include the following language:

• 26-136(i)(2)(ii)b) (Page 208 of the Development Code) -  No free-standing wireless facilities shall be permitted within one thousand five hundred (1,500) feet of surrounding single-family residences or surrounding multi-family residential zones (MF) unless the applicant is able to effectively demonstrate to the City Council that the distance requirement constitutes as an effective prohibition through a comprehensive analysis of all residential and non-residential zones, buildings, and/or uses within the City and all potential co-location sites, including sites located on adjacent jurisdictions. This distance shall be determined by measuring from the free-standing wireless facility to the nearest property line of the single- or multi-family residence.
• 26-136(j)(10) (Page 209 of the Development Code) - Freestanding wireless telecommunication facility equipment, except for antennas and electric meters, shall be installed below grade utilizing an underground vault in order to be screened from views and to prevent visual clutter.
• 26-136(j)(16) (Page 210 of the Development Code) - Building and roof-mounted antennas shall be mounted on a building feature such as a parapet, penthouse wall, or building façade unless the antennas are designed to reduce negative visual impacts to adjacent properties and/or public right-of-ways. Building mounted antennas shall be painted or architecturally integrated to match the existing structure. All related building and roof-mounted telecommunication facility equipment shall be installed within the same building and/or roof-mounted and screened to be architecturally integrated to match the existing structure. If equipment can not be installed within the same building, or roof-mounted and screened, the equipment shall be installed below grade utilizing an underground vault in order to be screened from views and to prevent visual clutter.
• All text pertaining to standards for above-ground equipment has been deleted. 

If adopted, the Ordinance will take effect on the 31st day following adoption, which is on or about March 21, 2024.

The City Attorney's Office has reviewed the ordinance and approved it as to form.

The City Council has the following options:

1. Adopt Ordinance No. 2519; or
2. Provide alternative direction.

The project has been reviewed for compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), an Initial Study (IS) was prepared for the Development Code Update and its associated discretionary approvals. The IS indicates that there is no substantial evidence that the proposed project may have a significant impact on the environment, and therefore, requires preparation of an Initial Study/ Negative Declaration (IS/ND). Based on the environmental checklist form prepared and supporting environmental analysis, the Development Code Update would have no impact or less than significant impact on the environment. The ND has been prepared pursuant to the requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and was circulated for public comment for 20 days (from August 28, 2023 to September 17, 2023). Comments were received from the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority. The City has considered the proposed IS/ND together with the comments received during the public comment period and determined on the basis of the whole record before it that there is no substantial evidence that the Project will have a significant effect on the environment and that the Negative Declaration reflects the City’s independent judgment and analysis. The Negative Declaration of Environmental Impact was reviewed and adopted by the City Council on January 16, 2024 (Resolution No. 2024-4).