Laguna Niguel Municipal Code Art. 8 Gate-Guarded Neighborhoods

(a) A gate-guarded neighborhood for new or existing areas shall be established within the city only after receiving city council approval. Any person desiring a gate-guarded neighborhood shall submit a detailed gate-guarded neighborhood plan to the community development department for initial review. The plan shall provide the specified information and satisfy standards as set forth in this article. The plan shall not be processed until the community development director has determined that all required information has been submitted with the plan application. For existing communities, the city will require a finding that the gates are justified on the basis of statistical data to be supplied by the applicant and verified by the city, such as police responses, excessive traffic violations and monetary benefits.

(b) An application fee shall be paid in the amount specified by city council resolution. The fee shall be a deposit, and all city staff time and other costs shall be assessed against the fee deposit. All costs for processing such an application shall be borne by the applicant.

(Ord. No. 90-29, § 1, 11-20-90)

(a) Evidence of identifiable area to be served. A gate-guarded neighborhood submitted pursuant to this article shall present evidence demonstrating that the control gates will serve a well-defined neighborhood.

(b) Evidence of neighborhood support.

(1) The plan shall include a petition evidencing a strong majority support for the concept. As a minimum, signatures of 51 percent of the owners of property within the neighborhood establishing written support for the plan shall be utilized by the city in determining whether there is a strong majority support for the plan, with each dwelling unit to be tabulated as one vote. This criterion shall not apply to new development, with the exception of those developments under construction for which 25 percent or more of the units have been sold.

(2) After receipt of the petition, city staff shall prepare a report which outlines all potential impacts of the action should it be implemented. The report shall be circulated as a ballot to all owners of record within the impacted neighborhood. The resultant tabulation of the ballots in support of the issue must total at least 75 percent of all of the property owners, with each dwelling unit to be tabulated as one vote.

(c) Design and access standards.

(1) Key system for gates. The plan shall provide for the installation of a master key override switch system as prescribed by the city for emergency access or other public access. Keys shall be provided to the city in the event of approval. If the gate operates by way of a telephone system, a ring-through feature shall be provided in order that cars waiting at the gate entrance will not cause waiting or queuing problems should a telephone line be in use.

(2) Gate setback. The setback of any gates shall be determined by the number of dwelling units within a gated neighborhood, on a basis of one-foot setback for each dwelling unit within the neighborhood. There shall be a minimum 100-foot setback for those neighborhoods consisting of less than 100 dwelling units. For setbacks in excess of 100 feet, credit may be given for multiple lanes.

(3) Turnaround. There shall be a minimum of a 38-foot radius turnaround area to ensure unrestricted access to and from the gate area and public street system. This requirement shall be treated as a general standard which may be increased based upon site and public health and safety considerations at the sole discretion of the city.

(4) Review by fire department. The fire department shall be asked to make its review and recommendations on any proposed plan.

(5) Other topographical considerations. The community development department shall review the plan for other site and topographical layout considerations to ensure that the design of the gate system does not create health and safety hazards.

(6) Access to public facilities. The proposal shall not block or inhibit access by the public to public or quasipublic facilities such as parks, schools, hiking and biking, and equestrian trails, etc.

(d) Utility coordination. The plan shall show the layout of adjacent utility facilities. Any utilities which are in conflict with the proposed gate system shall be relocated at the applicant's expense.

(e) Financial plan. The plan shall include a financial analysis establishing that the gate-guarded facility shall be adequately maintained on a permanent basis.

(f) Access by contract services. The applicant of the plan shall contact all contract services, i.e., trash pickup and street cleaning, and provide access to the gated community to allow for continued service.

(Ord. No. 90-29, § 1, 11-20-90)

(a) Vacation procedure. Where a gate-guarded neighborhood plan includes a request that the city vacate a public street, the city's street vacation procedures, as stipulated in city council Resolution No. 90-71, shall address the following additional provisions:

(1) In determining whether to vacate a public street as a part of a gate-guarded neighborhood plan, the city council will take into consideration the aesthetic and financial impact on the city and social impacts arising from the proposed vacation of the public streets, as part of the specified request under review.

(2) Prior to consideration by the city council, the planning commission shall review the vacation request and shall make a recommendation to the city council.

(3) In order to ensure consistency, street vacation requests shall be processed concurrently with the gate-guarded neighborhood plan and related site development permit.

(b) Revocation of vacation of public street. The city council reserves the right to conditionally approve a vacation of a public street in a manner that will allow the city to revoke the vacation of the street if the plan proponent fails to abide by conditions of approval, or the plan implementation is otherwise found to create a public health or safety hazard. If there is a revocation, the gates must be removed.

(Ord. No. 90-29, § 1, 11-20-90)

Notwithstanding the standards set forth in this article, the planning commission, subject to final approval by the city council, may make exceptions to one or more of the design standards set forth in section 9-1-801 if it finds that:

(1) There would be no health or safety hazard created by the waiver of the design standard; and

(2) Unique topographical features, including size of the neighborhood, justify waiver of one or more of the design standards.

(Ord. No. 90-29, § 1, 11-20-90)

(a) Community development department review.

(1) The gate-guarded neighborhood request shall be subject to review and action by the planning commission on a site development permit, which shall be processed in accordance with subsections 9-1-150.1(d) and 9-1-150.3(3).

(2) The community development department shall receive and certify the gate-guarded neighborhood plan as complete. The department shall then review the application for its compliance with the design standards. The department shall also request comments from other city departments.

(3) The community development department shall be responsible for preparing, circulating, and tabulating the second ballot as described in subsection 9-1-801(b).

(4) A report by the community development director shall then be prepared and forwarded to the planning commission for review and action.

(5) After action by the planning commission, the community development director shall prepare and forward a report on the recommended action to the city council.

(b) Planning commission review. The planning commission shall review the site development permit and street vacation concurrently, hold a public hearing, and make a recommendation to the city council.

(c) City council review.

(1) The city council reserves sole discretion to grant or deny a plan application. The city council shall conduct a public hearing on any application for a gate-guarded neighborhood plan.

(2) Any plan entailing a proposal for vacation of public streets shall be subject to the notice and hearing provisions of streets and highways code section 8300 et seq.

(3) The city council shall not approve any proposal unless it finds in writing that all design and related criteria set forth in this article have been satisfied or waived and that the approval of the plan promotes the health, welfare and safety of the community.

(Ord. No. 90-29, § 1, 11-20-90)