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AGENDA REPORT
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| | | | | | | | DATE:
| July 20, 2021
| TO:
| Mayor and City Council
| FROM:
| Stefan T. Chatwin, City Manager
| | SUBJECT: | Second Reading and Adoption of Ordinance 2021-14 of the City Council of the City of Fairfield Amending Various Sections of Chapter 25, Article I of the Fairfield Municipal City Code (Also Known as the Zoning Ordinance of the City of Fairfield) Permitting and Regulating “Tiny Homes”; Correcting the Regulations for Junior Accessory Dwelling Units (JADU) to Require Owner Occupancy and a Covenant as Mandated by State Law; Addressing Setback Regulations for Small Lot Developments; Amending Height Restrictions for Multi-Family Development in the High Density Residential (RH), Heart of Fairfield West Texas Street (HWT), Heart of Fairfield Downtown Commercial (HD), and Downtown Commercial Core (HDC) Zoning Districts; Clarifying the Regulations Governing Single Family Dwellings in the RH Zoning District; Amending the Mixed Use Regulations to Include the Office Commercial (CO) and Neighborhood Commercial (CN) Zoning Districts; Conditionally Permitting Specialty Tobacco Retailers in the HDD and HDC Zoning Districts; Requiring a Conditional Use Permit in the Community Commercial (CC) Zoning District for Automotive Maintenance and Minor Repair; and Amending the Timeframe for Interim Use Permits for Nonconforming Uses in the Train Station Specific Plan Area; and
Second Reading and Adoption of Ordinance 2021-15 of the City Council of the City of Fairfield Amending Section 7.5 and Section 7.11 of the Fairfield Municipal Code to Require Undergrounding of Transformers within the Train Station Specific Plan Area |
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| | | | | | | | | RECOMMENDED ACTION | | Provide second reading and adopt Ordinance 2021-14 and 2021-15. |
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| | | | | | | | | STATEMENT OF ISSUE | | At least once a year, staff reviews the Fairfield Municipal Code to identify errors, omissions, changes in City policy, and recommended amendments to better implement the City’s General Plan and adopted Specific Plans. Amendments in the first ordinance address “tiny homes” and several minor corrections and updates. In addition, staff proposes an ordinance amending Chapter 7, Electricity, to require undergrounding of transformers wherever practical within the Train Station Specific Plan area. This will improve aesthetics and safety in many of the City’s new residential communities. |
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| | | | | | | | | DISCUSSION | To facilitate new tiny home development, staff proposes changes to the Fairfield Zoning Ordinance to allow smaller homes in certain zoning districts, including the Heart of Fairfield area. The changes include reducing minimum house size to as low as 200 square feet in zoning districts that prescribe no minimum lot size, allowing tiny homes on individual lots or clustered on a single lot, reducing certain development standards for parking, private open space, and minimum lot widths, establishing minimum trash container and other storage requirements for houses smaller than 960 square feet, and allowing development of small houses independent of multifamily development. With one exception, regulations for construction of houses greater than 960 square feet in size do not change under any of the proposed amendments. Reduction in private open space requirements, and allowing substitution of private open space for actively usable common open space would apply to standard sized houses as well as tiny houses.
Other changes in the Zoning Ordinance include increasing height limits for multifamily and mixed-use development in certain higher density zones, corrections to the Accessory
Dwelling Unit standards for “junior” units, clarification to the zones where mixed-use development standards apply, corrections to Table 25-5 as to which graphic examples of small lot development apply, conditionally permitting limited specialty tobacco in Downtown Fairfield, limiting minor automotive service uses in Community Commercial zones, and extend the timeframe for interim use permits in the Train Station Specific Plan Area.
The amendments to Chapter 7 (Electricity Ordinance) extend the requirement of undergrounding certain utility infrastructure to include transformers for development projects located in the Train Station Specific Plan area.
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| | | | | | | | | FINANCIAL IMPACT | | There are no direct financial impacts to the City, as the changes are primarily administrative in nature and will have no fiscal impacts. The tiny homes provisions could result in the development of new housing, reducing cost burdens for some households and potentially reducing the need for direct City financial support or subsidies. |
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| | | | | | | | | PUBLIC CONTACT/ADVISORY BODY RECOMMENDATION | At its May 12, 2021 meeting, the Planning Commission held a public hearing that was duly noticed in the Daily Republic newspaper on May 2, 2021. At said meeting, the commission adopted Resolution 2021-11 recommending the council adopt the ordinance and resolution. A public hearing notice was published in the Daily Republic newspaper on June 4, 2021, for the June 15, 2021 public hearing that was continued to July 6, 2021.
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| | | | | | | | | ALTERNATIVE ACTION | The council may request amendments to or choose to not adopt the ordinances.
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| | | | | | | | | STAFF CONTACT | Brian K. Miller, Associate Planner
(707) 428-7446
bkmiller@fairfield.ca.gov
Ryan Panganiban, City Engineer
(707) 428-4785
rpanganiban@fairfield.ca.gov
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| | | | | | | | | COORDINATED WITH | Community Development Department, Public Works Department
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| REVIEWERS: | | Reviewer | Action | Date | | Feinstein, David | Approved | 7/7/2021 - 9:21 PM | | Gassaway, David | Approved | 7/7/2021 - 11:21 PM | | Alexander, Amber | Approved | 7/9/2021 - 2:37 PM | | Alexander, Amber | Approved | 7/9/2021 - 2:37 PM |
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