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AGENDA REPORT
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| | | | | | | | DATE:
| September 15, 2020
| TO:
| Mayor and City Council
| FROM:
| Stefan T. Chatwin, City Manager 
| | SUBJECT: | Second Reading and Adoption of Ordinance 2020-17 of the City Council of the City of Fairfield Temporarily Prohibiting the Pre-Zoning of Territory Located Outside the City of Fairfield Boundaries Until a New General Plan has been Adopted. |
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| | | | | | | | | RECOMMENDED ACTION | | Provide second reading and adopt Ordinance 2020-17. |
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| | | | | | | | | STATEMENT OF ISSUE | | At the City Council meeting of July 21, 2020, the Council directed staff to prepare an ordinance to temporarily prohibit annexations until a new general plan has been adopted. |
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| | | | | | | | | DISCUSSION | At the City Council meeting of July 7, 2020, five speakers addressed the Council requesting Council seek voter extension of Measure L. Measure L is an initiative adopted in November 2003 requiring voter approval to amend the City’s Urban Limit Line and various growth policies. Voter approval requirements expire at the end of this year.
On July 21, 2020, the City Council considered the request to extend the date voter approval requirements expire. At the meeting, Council decided not to place an extension proposal on the ballot. Instead, direction was given to prepare an ordinance preventing changes to the City’s boundaries during the time the General Plan Update is being prepared.
Not extending Measure L provides City Council the greatest flexibility in responding to community input and setting updated land use policies. A moratorium on annexations, until a new General Plan is adopted, preserves the intent of Measure L by preventing changes to the City’s boundaries and limiting urban sprawl. The moratorium allows Council to consider the full range of policy options available for the General Plan update while honoring Measure L restrictions. Annexation of territory into the City on a piecemeal basis during development of a new General Plan could conflict with or undermine the goals, policies, and land use designations that are ultimately adopted in the new General Plan. The General Plan update process will include numerous public engagement and input opportunities to identify the community’s vision for Fairfield.
The proposed ordinance temporarily prohibits the pre-zoning of territory located outside City boundaries until a new general plan has been adopted. The Solano County Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCo), the approving body for annexations, requires that land be pre-zoned by the City prior to annexation. Most unincorporated land adjacent to the City is not yet pre-zoned. Prohibiting the City’s ability to pre-zone properties therefore facilitates a nearly complete moratorium on annexations.
There are five small areas, ranging from one-quarter acre to three acres of developable land already pre-zoned. These “islands” – three located near Woolner Avenue and two located on Sunset Avenue – are completely surrounded by city limits and still able to request annexation under the proposed ordinance. Current LAFCo law encourages and expedites island annexations that promote greater efficiency in providing services to small, isolated unincorporated areas. The City is currently processing a request to annex one of the islands, an approximately three-acre property on Sunset Avenue at the east end of East Travis Boulevard. The landowner is proposing to build a church on the property. Under the proposed ordinance, this annexation request may proceed.
The Ordinance presented to the Council at the September 1, 2020 Council meeting applied the prohibition to all applications that were incomplete or received after July 21, 2020, the date City Council requested the moratorium. At the September 1, 2020 meeting, the Council heard testimony from a land owner who has an incomplete application for pre-zoning on file with the City. After hearing all testimony, the City Council voted to approve the Ordinance with revisions to allow this pre-zoning request to move forward. The Ordinance now prohibits the pre-zoning of property for all applications received after September 1, 2020.
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| | | | | | | | | CITY COUNCIL WORKPLAN | Community Safety
| Community Infrastructure | Quality of Life | | Financial and Operational Sustainability | Economic Development | Travis Air Force Base |
| City Council Goal this item supports:
Not Applicable |
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| | | | | | | | | Priority Project: | #5B.8 General Plan Update
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| | | | | | | | | PUBLIC CONTACT/ADVISORY BODY RECOMMENDATION | This item was placed on the agenda at the direction of the City Council. There has been no advisory body review of this matter. Public Hearing Notice was published in the Daily Republic, emailed to all persons on the noticing list, and posted on site for City Council meeting on September 1, 2020. The City has received no comments regarding the proposed annexation moratorium at the time of this writing.
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| | | | | | | | | ALTERNATIVE ACTION | | The Council may choose not to adopt this ordinance. In this case, the City would continue to accept applications for pre-zoning to annex territory into the City limits and bring those requests before the Council for action. The Council may also choose to place a moratorium on all annexation requests regardless of when they were submitted to the City. With this option, the island annexation request for property at Sunset Avenue and Railroad Avenue and on Pittman Road would not move forward. |
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| | | | | | | | | STAFF CONTACT | Amy Kreimeier, Senior Planner
(707) 428-7450
akreimeier@fairfield.ca.gov
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| | | | | | | | | COORDINATED WITH | City Attorney's Office
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| REVIEWERS: | | Reviewer | Action | Date | | Gassaway, David | Approved | 9/8/2020 - 7:50 PM | | Alexander, Amber | Approved | 9/8/2020 - 7:58 PM | | Alexander, Amber | Approved | 9/8/2020 - 7:58 PM |
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