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Following a Nov. 12 public hearing, the City Council unanimously introduced an amendment to the Zoning Code. Staff recommended approving the changes. The Planning Commission recommended approving the Zoning Changes in late October.
The changes included having the administrative review of changes to non-conforming structures,changes to front yard surface requirements, and, state-mandated updates to accessory dwelling unit standards.
Background
“This Zoning Text Amendment (ZTA) consists of proposed changes to five (5) different areas of the Zoning Code (Title 11 of the Municipal Code) as follows,” according to the staff report by Community Development Director Alexa Smittle.
“1. Modifications to Nonconforming Residential Structures;
“2. Modifications to Address No-Net-Loss Provisions;
“3. Director’s Approval of Reasonable Accommodations;
“4. Permeable Surface Requirements for Residential Front Yards; and,
“5. Updates to the Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) ordinance per amendments to State law amendments signed into law in September 2024 and effective January 1, 2025,” Smittle wrote.
The Planning Commission approved the changes on Oct. 21, according to Smittle.
“An additional text amendment related to recreational vehicle (RV) parking in residential driveways was continued by the Planning Commission and has therefore been removed from proposed Ordinance 1716. The Planning Commission requested more research and suggested a community survey be conducted before the item returned for consideration,” Smittle wrote.
A Sun poll question published Oct. 24 asked: “The Zoning Code forbids parking boats and RVs in driveways. Should Seal Beach change the code to allow boats and RVs to park in driveways?”
Poll questions are informal and not considered scientific. The results found that 67.50% of participants voted “no” and 30% voted “yes;” another 2.5% voted they didn’t know or had no opinion.
“Two (2) key points of discussion among the Planning Commissioners during deliberations were (a) assurances that proposed development of any kind is subject to technical review for health and safety purposes, and (b) the need for community transparency in development projects,” Smittle wrote.
“With regards to technical review for health and safety purposes, all development projects, regardless of if they are approved through a public hearing before the Planning Commission or by an administrative review by planning staff, must go through a technical review by the building division where structural, mechanical, electrical, and plumbing plans must be submitted so each of those respective elements can be reviewed by a subject matter expert. Additionally, during the course of the construction activity, the City’s building inspector will visit the project site during different milestones within the construction process to ensure that the structure is being built according to the approved plans,” Smittle wrote.
“With regards to transparency, any new construction permitted by an administrative review will only be approved if it meets the development standards of its zone; standards which have been set by ordinance of the City Council through a public hearing process. Staff agrees that any proposal for new construction that requests modification from the development standards of the residential zone should be given an additional level of review through a public hearing, which would be done through a variance request before the Planning Commission,” Smittle wrote.
“The development standards are published on the City’s website within the Municipal Code link for public accessibility,” Smittle wrote.
