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Home My WebLink About07-08 - Placing a Moratorium on Approval - Existing Multi-Family Apratments to be converted into Residental CondosAN INTERIM URGENCY ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF COSTA MESA PLACING A MORATORIUM ON THE APPROVAL OF ANY SUBDIVISIONS, USE PERMITS, VARIANCES, OR ANY OTHER APPLICABLE ENTITLEMENT WHICH WOULD ALLOW FOR EXISTING MULTI -FAMILY APARTMENT UNITS TO BE SUBDIVIDED OR CONVERTED INTO RESIDENTIAL CONDOMINIUMS IN THE CITY OF COSTA MESA. WHEREAS, the City Development Services staff has been reviewing and revising conditions of approval and preparing proposed code amendments for consideration of the City Council regarding standards for conversion of existing apartment complexes into condominiums in order to ensure quality building standards and appropriate upgrading of such properties to bring them into as much conformity as possible with current building and zoning standards at the time of conversion; and WHEREAS, the City Council recognizes the substantial investment that families must make when buying homes and wishes to ensure that their investments in aging multi -family units converted to for sale units will be protected; and WHEREAS, due to market factors, demographic changes and aging of apartment and other rental housing stock in the City, several applications have been submitted, processed and/or approved for conversion of existing multi -family apartments into residential condominiums over the past approximately 24 month period; and WHEREAS, the City Council is concerned that continued conversions of multi- family apartments into residential condominiums without ensuring that such projects are brought as close as possible into compliance with existing building and zoning codes brought as close as possible into compliance with existing building and zoning codes while preserving and creating for sale housing stock in the City will jeopardize the investment of families in these homes and will result in a decrease in available housing stock rather than an increase in housing stock in the community; and WHEREAS, the City's current zoning code requires additional development standards for the City's discretionary review process for residential condominium conversions to ensure that non -conforming properties are brought to current building and zoning codes to the maximum extent possible and to ensure that the residential condominium units created from such conversions are habitable, do not contain latent defects and deterioration which will undermine the investment of families in these units and impair the long term vitality of the City's ownership housing stock; and WHEREAS, City staff has indicated that while it has begun the process of studying and preparing proposed amendments to the City's zoning codes regarding residential condominium conversions, the process to complete implementation of such code amendment, including public hearings before the Planning Commission and City Council and orderly adoption of appropriate code revisions following the public hearing process will take another three to six months; and WHEREAS, the City Council finds that there is a current and immediate threat to the public health, safety, or welfare from the approval of entitlements or permits relating to residential condominium conversions of existing multi -family residential units in the City; and WHEREAS, the City Council finds that a moratorium temporarily prohibiting the issuance of subdivisions, use permits, variances, or any other applicable entitlement which would allow for residential condominium conversions for existing multi -family apartment units in the City would best serve the public health, safety, and welfare, while the City conducts necessary research into the adequacy of the existing conditions of approval and methods for ensuring that conversions of existing multi -family apartment units into condominiums create high quality housing and bring the converted multi- family properties as close to conformity to existing zoning and building codes as is reasonably possible. NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF COSTA MESA DOES ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS: Section 1. In order to protect the public health, safety, and welfare and pursuant to the provisions of California Government Code Section 65858, a moratorium is hereby placed on the following: The approval of any subdivision, use permit, variance, or any other applicable entitlement for the subdivision of existing multi -family apartments into residential condominiums in the City of Costa Mesa excepting only those projects for which applications were pending at the time of adoption of this moratorium 2. This moratorium shall be effective immediately upon adoption and shall remain in effect for forty-five (45) days, but may be extended after notice, pursuant to California Government Code Section 65090, and public hearing, for an additional period of ten (10) months and fifteen (15) days and subsequently extend the interim ordinance for one (1) year, when findings are made that there is a current and immediate threat to public health, safety, or welfare, pursuant to California Government Code Section 65858(c). (a) The City has recently received, processed and/or approved several condominium conversion applications for multi -family apartment complexes. (b) City Staff has been in the process of developing and revising conditions of approval and possible code revisions to address appropriate upgrades and conformance issues for conversion of multi -family apartments into ownership condominium housing. (c) The conversion of existing multi -family residential units into residential condominiums without ensuring the upgrade and conformity of the properties to current zoning and building codes to the maximum extent feasible may have a detrimental impact on the ability of present and future property owners to preserve their substantial financial investments in their family home and may have a detrimental impact on the City's ability to preserve and expand the City's residential housing stock. (d) The current development standards in place in the City of Costa Mesa relating to conversion of existing multi -family residential units to condominiums are inadequate to ensure that these conversions meet the highest standards feasible to preserve and protect ownership housing in the City. (e) The City of Costa 4 Mesa requires time to complete its comprehensive study of the adequacy of the current standards, conditions of approval and assessment process for residential condominium conversions. (f) The public health, safety, and general welfare require implementation of a moratorium to ensure that the City's zoning codes are strengthened to ensure that homes created from such conversions are habitable, and do not contain latent defects and deterioration which will undermine the investment of families in these units and impair the long term vitality of the City's ownership housing stock. Section 2. Environmental Determination. The project has been reviewed for compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), the CEQA Guidelines, and the City's environmental procedures, and has been found to be exempt. Section 3. Severability. If any chapter, article, section, subsection, subdivision, sentence, clause, phrase, or portion of this Ordinance, or the application thereof to any person, is for any reason held to be invalid or unconstitutional bythe decision of any court of competent jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portion of this Ordinance or its application to other persons. The City Council hereby declares that it would have adopted this Ordinance and each chapter, article, section, subsection, subdivision, sentence, clause, phrase or portion thereof, irrespective of the fact that any one or more subsections, subdivi- sions, sentences, clauses, phrases, or portions of the application thereof to any person, be declared invalid or unconstitutional. No portion of this Ordinance shall supersede any local, State, or Federal law, regulation, or codes dealing with life safety factors. 5 Section 4. The City Clerk shall certify to the passage and adoption of this ordinance, by at least a four-fifths vote of the City Council, and shall cause the ordinance to be published in the manner required by law. This ordinance shall become effective immediately from and after its passage. PASSED AND ADOPTED this ird day Of April 2007. ATTEST: City Clerk of the City of Costa Mesa Mayor APPROVED AS TO FORM: P'"' &z'"' City Attorney STATE OF CALIFORNIA ) COUNTY OF ORANGE ) ss CITY OF COSTA MESA ) I, JULIE FOLCIK, City Clerk of the City of Costa Mesa, DO HEREBY CERTIFY that foregoing is the original of Ordinance No. 07-8 and was duly introduced for first reading duly passed and adopted at a regular meeting of the City Council held on the 3rtl day of April, 2007, by the following roll call vote, to wit: AYES: COUNCIL MEMBERS: MANSOOR, BEVER, DIXON, LEECE. NOES: COUNCIL MEMBERS: NONE. ABSENT: COUNCIL MEMBERS: FOLEY. IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereby set my hand and affixed the seal of the City of Costa Mesa this 4" day of April, 2007. �IJULIE IK, CITY CLERK (SEAL) I hereby certify that the foregoing is the original of Ordinance No. 07-8 duly passed and adopted by the Costa Mesa City Council at the regular meeting held April 3, 2007, and that the Ordinance was published in the Newport Beach -Costa Mesa Daily Pilot on April 12, 2007. JUL4t FOLCIK, CITY CLERK (SEAL)