HomeMy WebLinkAboutOrdinance #3326 ORDINANCE NO. 3326
AN ORDINANCE OF THE. CITY OF HUNTINGTON BEACH
AMENDING THE HUNTINGTON BEACH ORDINANCE CODE
BY AMENDING ARTICLE 969.7 THEREOF TO CONFORM
LCP AMENDMENT NO. 2-94 TO MODIFICATIONS MADE BY
THE CALIFORNIA COASTAL COMMISSION
The City Council of the City of Huntington Beach does hereby ordain as
follows:
SECTION 1 . Article 969.7 of the Huntington Beach Ordinance Code is
hereby amended to read as follows:
969.7.0 Purpose
969.7.1 Definitions
969.7.1 .1 Designation of the Project Area
969.7.2 Permitted Principal Uses and Structures
969.7.3 Uses and Structures Subject to a Conditional Use Permit
969.7.3.1 Application for Economically Viable Use
Determination
969.7.3.2 Economically Viable Use Determination
969.7.3.3 Economically Viable Use
969.7.4 Prohibited Principal Uses and Structures
969.7.5 Required Permits/Agreements
969.7.6 Performance Standards
969.7.7 Required Findings
969.7.0 Purt)ose. The purpose of the Coastal Conservation (CC)
District is to implement the General Plan land use designation of Open
Space: Conservation; and provide for the protection, maintenance,
restoration and enhancement of wetlands and environmentally
sensitive habitat areas located within the Coastal Zone while allowing
for appropriate utilization to occur.
The application of the coastal conservation district is not intended to
authorize, and shall not be construed as authorizing the City of
Huntington Beach to exercise its power in a manner which will take or
damage private property for public use. This zoning ordinance is not
intended to increase or decrease the rights of any owner of property
under the constitution of the State of California or the United States.
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969.7.1 Definitions.
(a) Energy Facility: means any public or private processing, producing,
generating, storing, transmitting, or recovering facility for electricity,
natural gas, petroleum, coal, or other source of energy.
(b) Environmentally Sensitive (Habitat) Area: means a wetland or any
area in which plant or animal life or their habitats are either rare or
especially valuable because of their special nature or role in an
ecosystem and which could be easily distributed or degraded by
human activities and developments.
(c) Feasible: means capable of being accomplished in a successful
manner within a reasonable period of time, taking into account
economic, social, and technological factors.
(d) Functional Capacity: means the ability of an environmentally sensitive
area to be self-sustaining and to maintain natural species diversity.
(e) Significant Disruption: means having a substantial adverse effect
upon the functional capacity.
(f) Wetland: means lands within the Coastal Zone which may be
covered periodically or permanently with shallow water and include
saltwater marshes, freshwater marshes, open or closed brackish
water marshes, swamps, mudflats and fens. (2701-7184)
(g) Coastal-dependent development or use: means any development or
use which requires a site on, or adjacent to, the sea to be able to
function at all.
969.7.1 .1 Designation of the prooect area. Development or subdivision of
any parcel in whole or in part within the coastal conservation district shall
be permitted only pursuant to an overall development plan for the entirety of
all parcels that are geographically contiguous and in common ownership at
the time of application. For purposes of determining common ownership
pursuant to this Article, parcels which are owned in fee, as well as parcels
subject to existing purchase options, shall be treated as commonly owned.
Consistent with Government Code section 66424, property shall be
considered as contiguous pursuant to this Article even if separated by
roads, streets, utility easements or railroad rights of way.
969.7.2 Permitted_Principal Uses and Structures. The following
principal uses and structures shall be permitted in the CC District
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where no feasible, less environmentally damaging alternative exists
and where feasible mitigation measures have been provided and are
subject to issuance of a use permit by the Zoning Administrator. Said
permit shall insure that the uses are developed in a manner
compatible with the purpose of this District. Such permitted uses are:
Say Incidental public service projects such as, but not limited
to, burying cables and pipes.
(b) Maintenance of existing streets and utility structures.
969.7.2.1 Extension of Hamilton Avenue. The extension of Hamilton
Avenue shall be permitted between Beach Boulevard and Newland Street.
The precise alignment of Hamilton Avenue shall not be approved without
documentation that the least environmentally damaging feasible alternative
is the chosen alternative. Before the precise alignment of Hamilton Avenue
can be approved, an EIR shall be certified which addresses the alternative
alignments for Hamilton Ave. and the mitigation needs generated from each
alternative. The alternatives analysis shall include, at a minimum, the
following: (1) placing the roadway in an alignment which is most protective
of wetland habitats, including the construction of the road on pilings or
bridging the road over the wetlands, and (2) limiting the width of the
roadway by narrowing lanes and eliminating shoulders, and (3) requiring full
mitigation for any impacted wetlands. No net loss of wetland shall occur.
Any wetland which is filled or reduced in productivity by the project will be
replaced by restoring otherwise degraded or non-functioning wetland as
close as feasible to the project site.
969..7.3 Uses and Structures Subject to a Conditional Use Permit.
A. The following uses and structures may be permitted in the CC District
subject to approval of a Conditional Use Permit where there is no feasible
less environmentally damaging alternative and where feasible mitigation
measures have been provided.
(a) New or expanded energy and coastal-dependent industrial facilities
where no feasible, less environmentally damaging alternative exists
and where consistent with the study titled Designation of Coastal
Zone Areas Where Construction of an Electric Power Plant Would
Prevent Achievement of the Objectives of the California Coastal Act
of 1976 (re-adopted by the California Coastal Commission December
1985).
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(b) Diking, dredging and filling which are necessary for the protection,
maintenance, restoration or enhancement of the environmentally
sensitive habitat area's functional capacity
(c) (1) Maintenance of existing modified flood control facilities where
the primary purpose is to maintain existing flood control
capacity and where such maintenance is necessary for public
safety or to protect existing development where there is no
other feasible method for protecting structures in the flood
plain. No maintenance activities shall be permitted which have
the effect of draining wetlands.
Maintenance activities may include: Maintenance dredging of
less than 100,000 cubic yards within a 12 month period; lining
of existing in-place artificial channels; increasing the height of
existing levees; or changes in the cross section of the interior
channel to accommodate the design capacity of existing
channels when no widening of the top dimensions or widening
of the outer levees is required.
(2) Only in conjunction with restoration plans, new flood control
facilities where necessary for public safety and to protect
existing development where there is no other feasible method
for protecting structures in the flood plain.
(d) Mineral extraction, including sand for restoring beaches, except in
environmentally sensitive areas.
(e) Pedestrian trails and observation platforms for passive nature study;
i.e., bird watching and the study of flora and fauna native to the site.
Such uses may be located within an environmentally sensitive habitat
area provided that said use(s) are immediately adjacent to the area's
peripheral edge.
(f) Maintaining existing, or restoring previously dredged depths in
existing navigational channels, turning basins, vessel berthing and
mooring areas, and boat launching ramps.
(g) In wetland areas only, entrance channels for new or expanded
boating facilities; and in a degraded wetland, identified by the
Department of Fish and Game pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section
30411 , for boating facilities, if, in conjunction with such boating
facilities, a substantial portion of the degraded wetland is restored
and maintained as a biologically productive wetland. The size of the
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wetland area used for boating facilities, including berthing space,
turning basins, necessary navigation channels, and any necessary
support service facilities, shall not exceed 25 percent of the degraded
wetland.
(h) Nature study, aquaculture, or similar resource dependent activities.
(2701-7184)
(i) Habitat Restoration Projects.
(j) For the portion of any parcel which is not designated Conservation
under the certified land use plan, any use authorized by and in
conformance with the Visitor Serving Commercial zoning district.
B. In addition to the above uses, coastal dependent industrial facilities
shall also be allowed even where inconsistent with other provisions of
the certified LCP if:
(1) To locate elsewhere is infeasible or causes greater
environmental damage and,
(2) To do otherwise would adversely affect the public welfare and,
(3) Adverse environmental effects are mitigated to the maximum
extent feasible and
(4) Where findings consistent with in 969.7.7 can be made.
969.7.3.1Application for economically viable use determination. Any
applicant that proposes a use other than one permitted in the coastal
conservation district based on the contention that the uses permitted in this
district will not provide an economically viable use of his or her property
shall apply for an economic viability determination in conjunction with their
coastal development permit application. The application for an economic
viability determination shall include the entirety of all parcels that are
geographically contiguous and held by the applicant in common ownership
at the time of the application. Before any application for a coastal
development permit and economic viability determination is accepted for
processing, the applicant shall provide the following information:
(a) The date the applicant purchased or otherwise acquired the property,
and from whom.
(b) The purchase price paid by the applicant for the property.
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(c) The fair market value of the property at the time the applicant
acquired it, describing the basis upon which the fair market value is
derived, including any appraisals done at the time.
(d) The general plan, zoning or similar land use designations applicable to
the property at the time the applicant acquired it, as well as any
changes to these designations that occurred after acquisition.
(e) Any development restrictions or other restrictions on use, other than
government regulatory restrictions described in (d) above, that applied
to the property at the time the applicant acquired it, or which have
been imposed after acquisition.
(f) Any change in the size of the property since the time the applicant
acquired it, including a discussion of the nature of the change, the
circumstances and the relevant dates.
(g) A discussion of whether the applicant has sold or leased a portion of,
or interest in, the property since the time of purchase, indicating the
relevant dates, sales prices, rents, and nature of the portion or
interests in the property that were sold or leased.
(h) Any title reports, litigation guarantees or similar documents in
connection with all or a portion of the property of which the applicant
is aware.
(i) Any offers to buy all or a portion of the property which the applicant
solicited or received, including the approximate date of the offer and
offered price.
(j) The applicant's costs associated with the ownership of the property,
annualized for each of the last five calendar years, including property
taxes, property assessments, debt service costs (such as mortgage
and interest costs), and operation and management costs.
(k) Apart from any rent received from the leasing of all or a portion of the
property, any income generated by the use of all or a portion of the
property over the last five calendar years. If there is any such income
to report it should be listed on an annualized basis along with a
description of the uses that generate or has generated such income.
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969.7.3.2 Economically-viable use determination. The
decision-making authority shall hold a public hearing on any
application for an economically viable use determination. Prior to
approving a coastal development permit for a use other than one
provided for in the coastal conservation district the decision-making
authority shall make the following findings:
(a) Based on the economic information provided by the applicant, as well
as any other relevant evidence, each use provided for in the coastal
conservation district would not provide an economically viable use of
the applicant's property.
(b) Restricting the use of the applicant's property to the uses provided
for in the coastal conservation district would interfere with the
applicant's reasonable investment-backed expectations.
The findings adopted by the decision-making authority shall identify
the evidence supporting the findings.
969.7.3.3 Economically viable use. Where the decision-making
authority finds that the uses provided for in the coastal conservation
district would not provide an economically viable use, and that
restricting the use of the applicant's property to these uses would
interfere with their reasonable investment backed expectations, the
uses provided for in the visitor serving commercial zoning district may
be allowed as a conditional use and in planning area 3 only, the uses
provided for in the Limited Manufacturing zone of the Industrial
District may be allowed as a conditional use. A specific development
proposal for a visitor serving commercial use or limited manufacturing
use, may be denied, however, if a feasible less environmentally
damaging visitor serving commercial or limited manufacturing
alternative also would provide the applicant with an economically
viable use. In addition to the other Performance Standards of
969.7.6 applicable to projects in the coastal conservation district,
such a visitor serving commercial or limited manufacturing use shall
be subject to the following development standards:
(a) The area in which visitor serving commercial or limited
manufacturing uses shall be permitted shall be the minimum
amount necessary to provide the applicant with an
economically viable use of his or her property.
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(b) The portion of the project involving visitor serving commercial
or limited manufacturing uses shall also be subject to the
standards of the visitor serving commercial district or the
limited manufacturing zone.
(c) Access through wetlands or environmentally sensitive habitat
areas to an area proposed for visitor serving commercial or
limited manufacturing uses shall only be allowed if necessary to
provide an economically viable use of the overall development
plan area.
969.7.4 _Prohibited Principal Uses and Structures. Any principal use
or structure not expressly permitted is prohibited herein.
969._7._5 Required Permits/Agreements. Before the application can be
considered complete, the project shall receive the following state and
federal regulatory permits/agreements or a statement from the
regulatory body that said permit/agreement is inapplicable. The
required regulatory permits/agreements shall be forwarded to the
Director prior to the submittal of said project to a decision making
body.
(A) United States Army Corps of Engineers Section 404 and
Section 10 permits;
(B) California Department of Fish and Game 1601 - 1603
agreement;
(C) State Water Resource Control Board (permit depends on the
operation;
(D) Regional Water Quality Control Board (permit depends on the
operation;
(E) A permit from the California State Lands Commission may also
be required.
969_.7.5.1Reguired Consideration of Alternatives. Before any application
is accepted for processing, the applicant shall provide topographic,
vegetative, hydrologic and soils information prepared by a qualified
professional which identifies the extent of the wetlands on the property.
This submittal shall also include an analysis of alternatives to the proposed
project and an assessment of how the proposed project is the least
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environmentally damaging alternative. The analysis of alternatives shall
include an assessment of how the proposed project will impact all adjacent
wetlands and environmentally sensitive habitat areas, including those within
the overall development plan area.
969.7.6 Performance Standards.
(A) Before the coastal development permit can be issued, the project shall
comply with the following standards to the satisfaction of the Director:
(1 ) Wetlands and environmentally sensitive habitat areas that are
designated for preservation after a permit hearing granting
project approval on the property shall be preserved through a
conservation easement, deed restriction or other similar
mechanism consistent with Public Resources Code Section
30010. Such easements or restrictions need not authorize any
public right of access or use. Exclusive use and possession of
the area may remain with the applicant.
(a) All feasible mitigation measures shall be incorporated into
projects to minimize adverse environmental effects.
(i) If the project involves dredging, mitigation measures
must include the following:
1 . dredging and spoils disposal must be
planned and carried out to avoid significant
disruption to wetland habitats and to water
circulation;
2. limitations may imposed on the timing of the
operation, the type of operation, the quantity of
dredged material removed, and the location of the
spoil site;
3. dredge spoils suitable for beach
replenishment shall, where feasible, be transported
to appropriate beaches or into suitable longshore
current systems;
4. other mitigation measures may include
opening up areas to tidal action, removing dikes,
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improving tidal flushing, or other restoration
measures.
(ii) If the project involves diking or filling of a wetland,
the following minimum mitigation measures shall apply.
These mitigation measures shall not be required for
temporary or short-term fill or diking if a bound or other
evidence of financial responsibility is provided to assure
that restoration will be accomplished in the shortest
feasible time. (275314185)
1 . If an appropriate restoration site is available,
the applicant shall submit a detailed restoration
plan to the Director which includes provisions for
purchase and restoration of an equivalent area of
equal or greater biological productivity and
dedication of the land to a public agency or
otherwise permanently restricting its use for open
space purposes. The site shall be purchased
before the dike or fill development may proceed.
(275314/85)
2. The applicant may, in some cases, be
permitted to open equivalent areas to tidal action
or provide other sources of surface water. This
method of mitigation is appropriate if the applicant
already owns filled, diked areas which themselves
are not environmentally-sensitive habitat areas but
may become so, if such areas were opened to tidal
action or provided with other sources of surface
water. (2753/4/85)
3. If no appropriate restoration sites under
options (a) and (b) are available, the applicant shall
pay an in-lieu fee, determined by the City Council,
which shall be of sufficient value to an appropriate
public agency for the purchase and restoration of
an area of equivalent productive value, or
equivalent surface area. (275314185)
(iii) The third option above shall be allowed only if the
applicant is unable to find a willing seller of a potential
restoration site. Since the public agency may also face
difficulties in acquiring appropriate sites, the in-lieu fee
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shall reflect the additional costs of acquisition, including
litigation and attorney's fees, as well as the cost of
restoration, relocation and other costs. If the public
agency's restoration project is not already approved by
the Coastal Commission, the public agency may need to
be a co-applicant for a coastal development permit to
provide adequate assurance that conditions can be
imposed to assure that the purchase of the mitigation
site shall occur prior to the issuance of the permit. In
addition, such restoration shall occur in the same general
region (e.g., within the same stream, lake, or estuary
where the fill occurred). (2753/4/85)
(b) Any areas where vegetation is temporarily removed shall be
replanted with a native or an adaptable species in a quantity
and quality equal to the vegetation removed. (2753/4/85)
(c) Pedestrian trails, observation platforms and other incidental
structures shall be designed to reduce disturbance of wildlife
and vegetation; examples of improvements so designed would
be elevated walkways and viewing platforms, and vegetative
and structural barriers to decrease disturbances from permitted
uses and inhibit internal access. (2753/4/85)
(d) Passive nature study uses shall include a program to control
litter; examples include litter containers and "no littering" signs
posted in the project area. (2753/4/85)
(e) Environmentally-sensitive habitat areas shall be restored and
enhanced to lessen the risk of flood damage to adjacent
properties. (2753/4/85)
(f) Any construction, alteration or other improvement shall
generally be carried out between September 15 and April 15 to
avoid disturbing rare, threatened, or endangered species which
utilize the area for nesting. This requirement shall not apply if
it can be demonstrated to the satisfaction of the Director that
no such disturbance would occur, in which case construction
shall be timed to cause the lease disturbance to wetland
dependent species; e.g., migratory waterfowl and shorebirds. _
(2753/4/85)
(g) Construction/maintenance activities shall be carried out in areas
of minimal size. Preconstruction topography shall be restored
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subsequent to the conclusion of the project unless such
topography is to be altered to conform with an approved
restoration project. (2753/4/85)
(2) The applicant shall demonstrate that the functional capacity is
maintained or augmented through the criteria set out below unless
relieved of any one or more of these requirements by the California
Department of Fish and Game, and that the project does not
significantly: (2753/4/85)
(a) Alter existing plant and animal populations in a manner that
would impair the long-term stability of the ecosystem; i.e.,
natural species diversity, abundance and composition are
essentially unchanged as a result of the project; (2753/4/85)
(b) harm or destroy a species or habitat that is rare or endangered;
(2753/4/85)
(c) harm a species or habitat that is essential to the natural
biological function of a wetland or estuary; (2753/4/85)
(d) reduce consumptive (e.g., fishing, aquaculture and hunting) or
nonconsumptive (e.g., water quality and research opportunity)
values of a wetland or estuarian ecosystem. (2753/4/85)
(3) If the proposed project involves restoration of a degraded wetland,
the applicant shall comply with California Public Resources Code
Sections 30411 and 30233 to the satisfaction of the Director.
(2753/4/85)
969.7.7 Required Findings. It is the intent of this section to ensure an
environment which is suitable for the self-perpetuation of environmentally
sensitive habitat areas.
(A) Prior to energy production facilities being approved, the approving
authority shall make the following finding with statement of facts:
1) Provision has been made for enhancement of a significant
portion of the project area, to ensure preservation of plant and _
wildlife species.
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(B) Prior to coastal dependent industrial facilities being approved, the
approving authority shall make the following finding with statement of
facts:
1) Alternative locations are infeasible or more environmentally
damaging.
2) to locate the construction or expansion elsewhere would
adversely affect the public welfare.
3) Adverse environmental effects are mitigated to the maximum
extent feasible consistent with 969.7.6.
4) Siting is consistent with the study titled Designation of Coastal
Zone Areas Where Construction of an Electric Power Plant
Would Prevent Achievement of the Objectives of the California
Coastal Act of 1976 (re-adapted by the California Coastal
Commission December 1985).
5) For expansion of the Southern California Edison Plant within the
area designed Industrial Energy Production/Conservation only:
a) Not less than two and one half acres of wetlands south
of Magnolia are permanently protected by conservation
easements, dedications or other similar mechanisms for
each acre of wetlands filled, and a program acceptable to
the Department of Fish and Game is implemented to
assure long term habitat enhancement or restoration of
these protected wetlands. Vehicular access shall be
prohibited in the wetland mitigation area protected by
conservation easement or similar mechanism, and
b) The feasibility of expanding inland to the area known as
the Rotary Mud Dump site (also known as the Ascon
Landfill), or other inland location, unless the Energy
Commission has determined such expansion infeasible
during or before the Notice of Intention proceedings.
(C) For any other project the applicant shall establish and the approving
authority shall find that the functional capacity of the environmentally _
sensitive habitat area is being maintained.
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SECTION 2. The Community Development Director is hereby directed to
amend Article 969.7 of the Huntington Beach Ordinance Code to reflect LCP
Amendment No. 2-94 as described in Section 1 hereof. Copies of said Article as
amended hereby are available for inspection in the Office of the City Clerk.
SECTION 3. This ordinance shall take effect thirty (30) days following its
adoption.
PASSED AND ADOPTED by the City Council of the City of Huntington
Beach at a regular meeting held on the 1st day of aril 1996.
Z>ex 4.--
Mayor
ATTEST: APPROVED AS TO FORM:
City Clerk Fo- City Attorney �&/Y
REVIEWED AND APPROVED: INITIATED AND APPROVED:
City Arlpffinistrator Director of CoAmunity Development
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Ord. No. 3326
STATE OF CALIFORNIA )
COUNTY OF ORANGE ) ss:
CITY OF HUNTINGTON BEACH )
I, CONNIE BROCKWAY, the duly elected, qualified City Clerk of the
City of Huntington Beach, and ex-officio Clerk of the City Council of said City, do
hereby certify that the whole number of members of the City Council of the City of
Huntington Beach is seven; that the foregoing ordinance was read to said City Council
at a regular meeting thereof held on the 1 Sth of March. 1996, and was again read to
said City Council at a regular meeting thereof held on the 1st of Auril, 1996, and was
passed and adopted by the affirmative vote of at least a majority of all the members of
said City Council.
AYES: CounciImembers:
Harman, Leipzig, Bauer, Sullivan, Dettloff, Green, Garofalo
NOES: None
ABSENT: None
I,Connie Brockway CITY CLERIC ofthe City of
Huntington Beach and ex-0ffcio Clerk of the City Council,
do hereby certify that a synopsis of this ordinance has been
published in the Independent on
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In accordance with the City Charter of said City City Clerk and ex-officio Clerk -
Connie Brockwav QV Clerk of the City Council of the City
DcpLiv City Clerk of Huntington Beach, California
G/ordinanc/ordbkpg
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