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

At the June 2, 2020 City Council meeting, the City Council authorized the City Manager to apply for and receive the Local Early Action Planning (LEAP) Grant from the California Department of Housing and Community Development, and enter into an agreement with the State for a grant of $500,000. LEAP was a one-time grant funding to cities and counties to update their planning documents and implement process improvements that will facilitate the acceleration of housing production and help local governments prepare for the 6th Cycle Regional Housing Needs Assessment. The City utilized the LEAP Grant to complete a comprehensive re-write of the City's Zoning Code (Development Code Update). The Development Code Update process included extensive community outreach. The new Development Code was adopted by the City Council on February 20, 2024.

The Development Code is a "living document" that is intended to be updated periodically. Planning Division staff has been implementing the latest Development Code since it became effective March 2024. Staff has utilized the Development Code in responding to questions at the counter and on the phone as well as for review of development applications. Staff has made notations of issues as they were discovered. When the Development Code was adopted, it was understood that the City would go back to fix certain items found through the application of the Code that were unintentionally left out, syntax/grammar/spelling/numbering errors, Code items that have been enforcement issues, fix/clarify language that is unclear, etc.

Changes proposed to the Planned Community Development No. 1 (PCD-1) for the West Covina portion of Woodside Village will make the application of PCD-1 consistent with current zoning designations. The Code standards for PCD-1 states that all commercial development is required to comply with the standards in the Neighborhood Commercial zone (N-C). The N-C zone was replaced with the Neighborhood-Mixed Use (NMU) zone, so the reference to the zoning will be corrected.

In addition, the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) sent the City a letter on September 18, 2024  stating that the current draft of the Housing Element Update complies with State law. However, before HCD will certify the City's Housing Element, the City is required to adopt certain code amendments related to emergency shelter parking, multifamily residential parking, minimum lot size for multifamily residential lots, and "by-right" multifamily residential developments.

Furthermore, the proposed code amendment also includes minor revisions made to comply with new State laws that took effect on January 1, 2025.

Planning Commission Review
At the December 10, 2024 Planning Commission meeting, the Planning Commission held a public hearing. During the public hearing, one member of the public spoke against the code amendment with concerns related to temporary non-commercial and election season signs. The Planning Commission voted 3-0 to recommend to the City Council the adoption of the draft Ordinance through the approval of Resolution No. 24-6157, with exclusions. The Planning Commission's recommendation did not include Sections 14, 21, 27, 29, 41, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, and 51 of the draft Ordinance because they felt that the sections do not qualify as "clean up" items and should be reviewed separately to allow for at length discussions and specific public notification. 

Ordinance No. 2525 was drafted to include the sections the Planning Commission did not include in its recommendation for adoption in order to provide the City Council with information on the exact texts the Planning Commission reviewed and to allow the City Council the ability to make its own determination. 

City Council Review
The City Council held a public hearing and introduced Ordinance No. 2525 at the February 18, 2025 City Council meeting. The City Council voted to introduce the Ordinance as presented (including items not recommended by the Planning Commission) with the added amendment to the call-up procedures, allowing two City Council members to call up any decision of the Planning Commission and increasing the public hearing notification radius from 500 feet to 1,000 feet for all projects called up by the City Council.

Ordinance No. 2525 has been revised to reflect the City Council's direction during the February 18, 2025 public hearing. 

If adopted, the Ordinance will take effect on the 31st day following adoption, which is on or about April 18, 2025.

Staff recommends that the City Council adopt Ordinance No. 2525.

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

The City Council has the following options:

The ordinance is statutorily exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) under Section 15061(b)(3) of the CEQA Guidelines, which provides that CEQA only applies to projects that have the potential for causing a significant effect on the environment. The ordinance would not result in direct or indirect physical change in the environment and does not involve any construction or additions to any existing structures.