Chapter 2 — POLICY DEVELOPMENT PROCEDURES — Yucaipa Zoning Code

ARTICLE 1

GENERAL PLAN LAND USE DISTRICT CHANGES

Sections: 83.020105 Procedures

83.020110 Findings

83.020105 Procedures.

(a) Decisions to change the classification of land from one adopted land use district to another land use district shall be reviewed by the Planning Commission and acted upon by the City Council. However, a recommendation for denial by the Planning Commission shall terminate any application for a change in district classification unless it is appealed

in accordance with the provisions of this Code. Amendments to land use districts constitute an amendment of the City General Plan and shall be adopted by resolution and ordinance.

(b) Procedure Public Hearing

City Council with Planning Commission recommendation

83.020110 Findings.

Prior to approving or recommending approval of a General Plan land use district change, the Planning Agency shall find that the following are true.

(a) The proposed land use district change is in the public interest, there will be a community benefit, and other existing and permitted uses will not be compromised.

(b) The proposed land use district change is consistent with the goals and policies of the General Plan and will provide a reasonable and logical extension of the existing land use pattern in the surrounding area.

(c) The proposed land use district change does not conflict with provisions of this Code or any applicable Specific Plan.

(d) The proposed land use district change will not have a substantial adverse effect on surrounding property.

(e) The proposed land use district change has been referred to the public water purveyor, and pursuant to Governmental Code Section 65958.1, an adequate water supply exists or is planned that will serve the proposed project.

ARTICLE 2

DEVELOPMENT CODE AMENDMENT

Sections:

83.020205 Procedures

83.020210 Findings

83.020205 Procedures.

(a) Amendments to the Development Code shall be reviewed and acted upon in conformance with the laws of the State of California.

(b) Decisions to adopt changes to the Development Code shall be reviewed at a Public Hearing by the Planning Commission and acted upon at a Public Hearing by the City Council.

Public Hearing

(d) Reviewing Authority

City Council with Planning Commission recommendation

83.020210 Findings.

Prior to approving or recommending approval of a Development Code Amendment, the Planning Agency shall find that the proposed ordinance is consistent with the General Plan and its policies.

ARTICLE 3

SPECIFIC PLAN ADOPTION AND AMENDMENT

Sections:

83.020305 Procedures

83.020310 Findings

83.020315 Consistency with the Specific Plan

83.020320 Environmental Review Requirements

83.020305 Procedures.

(a) Decisions to adopt or amend a Specific Plan shall be reviewed by the Planning Commission and acted upon by the City Council.

(b) A Specific Plan shall be prepared, adopted, and amended in the same manner as a General Plan, except that a Specific Plan shall be adopted by ordinance and may be amended as often as deemed necessary by the City Council. A Specific Plan shall be repealed in the same manner as it is required to be amended.

(d) Reviewing Authority

City Council with Planning Commission recommendation

83.020310 Findings.

Prior to taking an action to adopt or amend a Specific Plan, the Planning Agency shall find that the proposed Specific Plan or amendment satisfies all of the following conditions.

(a) Is consistent with the General Plan

(b) Specifies through text and/or diagrams the distribution, location, and extent of the uses of land, including open space, within the area covered by the plan

(c) Specifies through text and/or diagrams the proposed distribution, location, and extent and intensity of major components of public and private transportation, sewage, water, drainage, solid waste disposal, energy, and other essential facilities proposed to be located within the area covered by the plan and needed to support the land uses described in the plan

(d) Specifies through text and/or diagrams the standards and criteria by which development will proceed and standards for the conservation, development, and utilization of natural resources, where applicable

(e) Specifies a program of implementation measures including regulations, programs, public works project, and financing measures necessary to carry out Findings (b), (c) and (d) above

(f) Includes a statement of the relationship of the Specific Plan to the General Plan, Development Code, and any applicable plan

(g) Addresses any other subjects which are necessary for implementation of the General Plan

83.020315 Consistency with the Specific Plan.

No local public works projects may be approved, no land use application may be approved, and no Specific Plan land use designation may be amended within an area covered by a Specific Plan unless it is consistent with the adopted

Specific Plan.

83.020320 Environmental Review Requirements.

(a) Residential development projects, including any subdivision or land use district change, that are consistent with a Specific Plan for which an Environmental Impact Report has been certified after January 1, 1980, are exempt from the requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), provided they meet the criteria for exemption specified in Section 65457 of the California Government Code.

(b) This subsection does not supersede, but provides an alternative procedure to Section 21080.7 of the California Public Resources Code.

ARTICLE 4

AGRICULTURAL PRESERVES/LAND CONSERVATION CONTRACT ACTIONS

Sections:

83.020405 Procedures

83.020410 Findings

83.020405 Procedures.

(a) This article makes provisions to establish, expand, disestablish, or reduce an Agricultural Preserve boundary and/or establish, non-renew, or cancel a Land Conservation Contract in conformance with the California Land Conservation Act of 1965 for the preservation and management of Agricultural lands. All the activities listed above require a public hearing by both the Planning Commission and the City Council except the establishment and the nonrenewal by the City of a Land Conservation Contract, which shall be heard by the Council without any hearing before the Planning Commission.

(b) Procedure

Public Hearing

City Council with Planning Commission recommendation

(d) Prior to action on a request for cancellation of a Land Conservation Contract, the land owner must pay a cancellation fee equal to 12.5% of the cancellation value of the land, plus any deferred tax amount.

(e) Prior to cancellation of a Land Conservation Contract the reviewing authority shall make one of the following findings.

(1) That the cancellation is consistent with the purposes of the Williamson Act

(2) That the cancellation is in the public interest

83.020410 Findings.

(a) Cancellation of a contract shall be consistent with the purposes of the Williamson Act only if the City Council makes all of the following findings.

(1) That the cancellation is for land on which a notice of nonrenewal has been served pursuant to Section 51245 of the California Government Code

(2) That the cancellation is not likely to result in the removal of adjacent lands from agricultural use

(3) That the cancellation is for an alternative use which is consistent with the applicable provisions of the City’s General Plan

(4) The cancellation will not result in discontinuous patterns of urban development

(5) That there is no proximate noncontracted land which is both available and suitable for the use to which it is proposed the contracted land be put, or that development of the contracted land would provide more contiguous patterns of urban development than development of proximate noncontracted land

(b) Cancellation of a contract shall be in the public interest only if the City Council makes both of the following findings.

(1) That other public concerns substantially outweigh the objectives of the Williamson Act

(2) That there is no proximate noncontracted land which is both available and suitable for the use to which it is proposed the contracted land be put, or that development of the contracted land would provide more contiguous patterns of urban development than development of proximate noncontracted land