REPORT TO PLANNING COMMISSION
SUBJECT
Title
Recommend that the City Council Introduce an Ordinance Making Minor Amendments to Chapters 19.18 (Residential Zoning Districts), 19.20 (Commercial Zoning Districts), and 19.79 (Accessory Dwelling Units) of the Sunnyvale Municipal Code and Amending Chapter 19.98 (General Procedures) of the Sunnyvale Municipal Code to Create a Procedure for Appealing Incompleteness Determinations, Adopt a Resolution to Amend the 2020/21 Citywide Fee Schedule Related to Appeals to Planning Commission, and Find that these Actions are Exempt from CEQA
Report
BACKGROUND
In recent years the State legislature has adopted numerous bills that affect how local agencies must handle applications for residential development. Zoning code modifications were adopted by the City Council to address:
* Residential Development in Non-residential Zoning Districts (Ordinance Introduced November 5, 2019, RTC No. 19-1162)
* Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) regulations (Ordinance introduced December 10, 2019, RTC No. 19-1249)
Staff has been able to address additional State requirements administratively; however, based on more experience with these State codes, staff finds that it is prudent to adopt amendments to the Zoning Code to more clearly address the State provisions. The proposed Ordinance makes several minor changes to the Sunnyvale Municipal Code (SMC), Title 19 (Zoning), primarily affecting residential development:
* Authorize the Director of Community Development to create forms and requirements for processing Density Bonus applications.
* Clarify that a residential project on a commercially zoned site will be subject to residential zoning standards.
* Make minor technical amendments and clarifications to the City's Accessory Dwelling Unit Ordinance.
* Create a process for appealing a staff determination that a development application is incomplete.
The City Council is scheduled to consider this item on May 4, 2021.
EXISTING POLICY
SUNNYVALE GE...
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