REPORT TO COUNCIL
SUBJECT
Title
Adopt an Urgency Ordinance to Extend the Recently Adopted Urgency Ordinance to February 6, 2020 to Amend Title 19 (Zoning) of the Sunnyvale Municipal Code related to new State Legislation on Accessory Dwelling Units, Introduce an Ordinance to Renumber Chapter 19.77 (Accessory Dwelling Units) to Chapter 19.79 and make other associated changes to Title 19, and Find that these Actions are Exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act
Report
SUMMARY OF PREVIOUS COUNCIL ACTION
On December 10, 2019, the City Council voted 7-0 to adopt an urgency ordinance and to introduce a regular ordinance related to accessory dwelling units (ADUs). The purpose of the urgency ordinance was to ensure that the City's ADU regulations are consistent with state legislation that will go into effect on January 1, 2020.
Pursuant to Government Code Section 65858, urgency zoning ordinances are effective for 45 days unless extended by the City Council. The urgency ADU ordinance will expire on January 24, 2020. Because of the holidays, the regular ordinance could not be brought to City Council for a second reading until January 7, and will not go into effect for 30 days (February 6, 2020). Therefore, the situation that necessitated the urgency ordinance will continue to exist between January 24 and February 5. During this period, there is a possibility that residents could apply to build ADUs that would be governed by state law, rather than the City's regulations. For example, state law allows larger detached ADUs than the City allows. The City would also be precluded from applying other local zoning standards to certain ADUs. As authorized by Government Code Section 65868, staff recommends that the City Council adopt an urgency ordinance to extend the urgency ordinance until February 6, 2020 (Attachment 2).
In addition, staff discovered that in the rush to complete the ADU ordinance update before the end of the year, the new ADU regulations were inad...
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