TO: HONORABLE MAYOR AND MEMBERS OF THE CITY COUNCIL
FROM: David Chantarangsu, Director of Development Services
PREPARED BY: Carl Stiehl, City Planner
SUBJECT: Multi-Family Residential & Mixed-Use Objective Design Standards
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RECOMMENDATION
recommendation
1) Introduce Ordinance No. 595-23 for the final revised Multi-Family Residential
and Mixed-Use Residential Objective Design Standards and code amendments
related to Development Code sections 16.08.040, 16.56.020 and 16.56.025 entitled:
An Ordinance of the City Council of the City of Murrieta, California, Amending Title
16 of the Murrieta Municipal Code to Revise the City’s Development Code, to
Implement Multi-Family Residential and Mixed-Use Residential Objective Design
Standards and A Ministerial Development Plan Permit Process for Certain
Qualifying Projects; and
2) Find that the adoption of the ordinance, including the final revised Objective Design
Standards and code amendments, are exempt from the California Environmental
Quality Act (CEQA) as the ordinance meets the required actions of CEQA
Guidelines Section 15183 - Projects Consistent with a Community Plan or Zoning,
since the ordinance directs staff to adopt and implement objective design standards
and a ministerial permit process, provided future approvals will not result in a
significant environmental impact and implements a uniformly applied development
policy or standards that is consistent with Murrieta General Plan Housing Element
policy to further regulate Multi-Family Residential and Mixed-Use Residential
development.
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PRIOR ACTION/VOTE
On June 16, 2020, the City Council authorized an application for, and receipt of, Local Early Action Planning (LEAP) Support Grant Funds with the State Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) to fund, in part, the preparation of design guidelines addressing multi-family residential development in the City (Vote: 5-0). HCD awarded the full $500,000 grant in January 2021.
On April 19, 2022, the City Council approved a contract agreement with Placeworks to prepare the City’s Multi-Family Design Guidelines and Objective Design Standards(Vote: 5-0).
On May 2, 2023, the City Council adopted urgency Ordinance No. U-590-23 to enact interim regulations implementing multi-family objective design standards on an urgency basis (Vote: 5-0).
On July 26, 2023, the Planning Commission adopted a resolution recommending approval of the project and adoption of a Categorical Exemption pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) to the City Council (Vote: 4-0-1).
CITY COUNCIL GOAL
Plan, program and create infrastructure development.
BACKGROUND
On June 16, 2020, the City Council authorized the City Manager to submit an application for a LEAP Grant to fund, in part, the preparation of Multi-Family Design Guidelines and Objective Design Standards (the Standards). The LEAP Grant was fully awarded in early 2021. On January 21, 2022, Planning Division staff issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) from qualified firms for consultant services and solicited proposals from various firms that specialize in preparing design standards. After the evaluation of the proposals, on April 19, 2021, staff recommended to the City Council that Placeworks be selected to develop the design guidelines. At the end of the project, it was envisioned that the design standards would be incorporated into the Murrieta Municipal Code (MMC), specifically within Title 16 which is also known as the Development Code.
Standards Preparation Process
Staff and Placeworks held a workshop with the Planning Commission on June 22, 2022. Following the initial Planning Commission workshop, staff made a presentation to the Development Advisory Group (DAG) in August 2022. From November 2022 to February 2023, a community survey was circulated for input on the project. Placeworks prepared an administrative draft of Multi-Family Residential and Mixed-Use Residential Objective Design Standards (Standards) for internal review and comment. In March 2023, a public review draft of the Standards was prepared and made available for public review. Staff returned to the DAG in late March 2023 and returned to the Planning Commission for a workshop on April 12, 2023, while the Standards were available for public review.
The Standards were initially available for public review and comment from May 2023 to June 2023. Included in the public outreach was the opportunity for the public to identify preferred architecture, site design, and site amenities. The public expressed their opinion through an online survey. No formal written comments were received during public review. In addition to the online survey, the City hosted a pop-up booth with staff available to discuss the Standards at the Murrieta Market Nights in May.
The booth connected residents to information about the Standards process and why the City of Murrieta (City) developed the Standards, and provided a draft document for review. Community input shaped the understanding of design preferences and priorities regarding multifamily housing. The feedback received from the survey and at Market Nights informed the final version of the document.
Due to a number of changes in State law, the City Council adopted Urgency Ordinance U-590-23 (Attachment 1), amending the Development Code to implement the Standards in conformance with State law while imposing certain restrictions that allow for greater local control through objective standards on multi-family housing projects while staff worked on completing the permanent final Standards document for public hearing and consideration for adoption. Without these local control measures, the approval of mixed use and multi-family residential projects utilizing the various new State laws based solely on generic standards in the Development Code. The existing Development Code standards generally lack specificity in areas governing project design, site planning, building massing, height, setback, landscape, building type, and architectural review that could be enforced given recent changes in State housing law. Without the proposed new Standards, multi-family projects built under the City’s current general standards could negatively threaten the character of the City’s existing neighborhoods and negatively impact property values, personal privacy, and fire safety. These potential threats to the public safety, health, and welfare of the community justified the adoption of the Urgency Ordinance, adopted in May 2023.
Following the completion of the public review period of the proposed Standards in June, staff completed minor revisions to the Standards and prepared a final version to bring forward to public hearings with the Planning Commission and City Council. Staff has prepared the necessary code amendments for implementation consistent with the City’s 2021-2029 Housing Element and the necessary CEQA documentation for the project’s compliance with State environmental review requirements. The final Standards are ready for adoption through an ordinance amending the City’s Development Code (Attachments 2). The Planning Commission voted to recommend to the City Council adoption of the proposed ordinance, and replacement of the Urgency Ordinance before the end of the year.
Objective Design Standards and Ordinance
The proposed Standards continue to utilize the three main architectural styles of the Downtown Specific Plan and extend them in other areas of the City; those styles being American Mercantile, Craftsman, and Spanish Colonial Revival. There are currently examples of all of these development types within the Downtown, and the Spanish style is found throughout the City. Additionally, the architectural styles of Farmhouse, Modern, and Tuscan would be allowed in various areas of the City depending on the zone. This provides flexibility and variety in the City with potential developments while ensuring development that fits Murrieta’s character in less developed areas.
Extensive input was received at the recent Planning Commission workshops regarding the Modern architectural style. The action of the City Council on the Modern style with the Urgency Ordinance was to intentionally limit the style to certain areas of the City, such as the Transit Oriented Development (TOD), Office, and Innovation zones, where contemporary office buildings or hotels may already be located. Staff notes these zones are typically located near the I-15 or I-215 freeways. Th proposed Standards do not allow for buildings using Modern architectural style to be built in the City’s existing residential areas, such as the west side of the City or the Downtown, where it would likely be considered out of place. An additional revision to the Urgency Ordinance is a proposal to limit the potential architectural styles that could be used on the commercially zoned properties that are adjacent to the Downtown to the three styles of the Downtown (American Mercantile, Craftsman and Spanish) in order to allow for a transition around the Downtown. This should address any potential future projects that may be proposed in the immediate surrounding area that could result in a housing project being built that is out of character with established neighborhoods, especially along Kalmia, Jefferson, or Ivy. The Standards are otherwise similar to the previously presented public review draft and the version adopted as the Urgency Ordinance with minor revisions. (See Attachment 2 - Exhibit A for the updated Standards.)
As part of the Urgency Ordinance, MMC Section 16.08.040 of the Multi-family Residential Design Standards was amended by the City Council in order to reference the Standards. The proposed Development Code Amendment (MCA 2023-00002) to fully implement the Standards provides a ministerial (by-right) permit process for certain qualifying projects (Attachment 2). In the Ordinance before the City Council, amendments are proposed to MMC Section 16.08.040 - Multi-family Residential Design Standards and MMC Section 16.56.025 - Authority, related to the review of Development Plan permits, which is typically the type of zoning permit required to approve projects involving new construction. A multi-family project that is consistent with new State housing laws such as SB 35, AB 2011, or that is located in the TOD zone or Downtown and proposes 20% or more affordable housing to low-income households are allowed to utilize a streamlined ministerial Development Plan permit process. The ministerial process would be approved by the Development Services Director, and would not subject to CEQA or a public hearing. A development may be approved by-right if it meets all of the applicable standards in the Development Code. This approach is consistent with the two recently adopted Housing Element Policy Actions 1-8 and 3-5 to allow by right approval of projects that propose 20 percent affordable units, and the adoption of the proposed Standards, respectively.
The implementation of a ministerial Development Plan process for these certain affordable housing projects helps to facilitate the development of most of the City’s housing sites, identified by the 2021-2029 Housing Element, which are located (predominately) in the Downtown and the TOD. This allows an affordable housing developer to obtain the initial approval of a housing project faster, which in turn allows the developer to apply for financing (for example, with the State) earlier in the process, which can be time-consuming. The current discretionary Development Plan process would continue for the vast majority of all other multi-family sites outside the Downtown, TOD, or those sites not proposing to utilize State laws, such as AB 2011, SB 6, or SB 35. A typical Development Plan would need to utilize an architectural style from the Standards and would follow a discretionary permit process with the typical CEQA review and potential for public hearings.
Conclusion
Staff is tracking many multi-family projects in process, which constitute thousands of future apartments that may be developed in the coming years. Prior to the changes in State law, staff and applicants would typically negotiate over building design and site planning as part of the discretionary process when reviewing projects. Now, without sufficient detail, architectural design and site planning techniques typically used by cities to encourage good design can be disregarded by applicants unless they are objective in most instances. The adoption of the revised final Standards and the code amendment for the ministerial process for certain projects provides a clear expectation for the developer, neighboring community, and the City in planning, approval, and construction of a multi-family housing development. Projects that do not meet the Standards can be denied by the City.
The Standards established by the Urgency Ordinance continue to be effective, on an interim basis, until the final version of the Standards can be approved by the City Council. The Urgency Ordinance will expire by December 31, 2023, unless repealed by action of the City Council. The Urgency Ordinance has allowed staff to begin to review new projects that have come in since May 2023. New submittals are being designed to be consistent with the Urgency Ordinance which has provided the City with more local control, meeting the intent of City and state goals to provide objective standards that can be easily applied resulting in more efficient processing of housing projects. The revised final Standards, if adopted, will replace the Urgency Ordinance 30 days following the approval of the second reading of the proposed ordinance (October 20, 2023).
The Standards may be updated as needed in the future to address changes in multi-family development the City may want to make.
HCD Review
As part of the implementation of the Housing Element, the City will provide the State Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) with a copy of the ordinance and the revised final Standards, once adopted, in order to complete the required policy actions, considered a “rezoning” for the TOD area by HCD and to complete tasks required under the LEAP Grant. This will mark the final step the City must take to obtain certification of the City’s Housing Element with HCD.
FISCAL IMPACT
There is no fiscal impact associated with adopting the Standards. For consulting services to develop the City’s Multi-Family Design Guidelines and Objective Design Standards, funding in the amount of $180,000 was budgeted in the Other State Grant Fund GL 3580040-60480 JL 50104358-60480. Funds are to be reimbursed by the HCD over the project timeline, therefore there will be full cost recovery utilizing the LEAP Grant for the cost to the City to prepare the Standards. The project is anticipated to come in under budget of this portion of the LEAP Grant and remaining available funds may be reallocated under the grant or utilized for future revisions to the Standards should they be necessary in the next year. There is no additional cost to staff to begin implementation of the Standards.
Environmental
The proposed action is exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) as this project meets the required actions of CEQA Guidelines Section 15183 - Projects Consistent with a Community Plan or Zoning, because it involves direction to staff to adopt and implement design standards, which will not cause significant environmental impact and implements a uniformly applied development policy or standard that is consistent with the General Plan Housing Element policy to further regulate multi-family residential development. This determination is predicated on Section 15004 of the CEQA Guidelines, which provides direction to lead agencies on the appropriate timing for environmental review. The project(s) for which the proposed design standards are utilized or are intended for may require the preparation of an environmental document as part of project review in accordance with the CEQA Guidelines (Attachment 3).
ATTACHMENTS
1) Urgency Ordinance No. U-590-23
2) Proposed Ordinance No. 595-23
3) CEQA Notice of Exemption