(2)AR 011607 Endangered Species - Laserfiche WebLink

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proposes that the City Council repeal Urgency Ordinance No. 0-02-06 and adopt a new ordinance to clarify its intent in adopting this habitat ordinance, and to clarify the circumstances governing the issuance of a permit for habitat conservation under the ordinance. DISCUSSION/ANALYSIS: California Government Code Sections 36934 and 36937, generally provide that an urgency ordinance adopted for the immediate preservation of the public health, safety and welfare takes effect immediately. It must be adopted by 4/5 vote of the City Council. Staff proposes that the City Council adopt the Proposed Ordinance as an urgency ordinance to allow it to take effect immediately. Staff also recommends that the City Council adopt the recommendation of the Planning Commission to adopt the Proposed Ordinance as a permanent ordinance following a second reading. The attached Proposed Ordinance creates a new chapter in the City's Zoning Ordinance that requires any person who encumbers property with a written agreement or easement for the purpose of mitigating impacts to endangered species to first obtain a conditional use permit and to change the General Plan Land Use Designation of the property to Open Space. Use of the CUP process will allow the City to: • ensure that proper management measures are implemented to protect the endangered species, such as fencing to discourage trespassing, and to enforce such measures through code enforcement mechanisms • prevent any environmental harm that could result from the habitat conservation, such as air quality impacts from grading • discourage the use of substandard land as "mitigation" for impacts to endangered species resulting from development elsewhere, and • participate with relevant stakeholders in the habitat conservation process. The requirement for amending the General Plan is needed to reflect the reality that the property will not be developed during the life of the General Plan (General Plan documents are normally developed with 20 -year life spans). Such an approach is needed in order to assure that the City's General Plan and Zoning development and implementation procedures are accurate and reflect the real-world development conditions in Colton. Further, since the City's General Plan consultant and staff are analyzing these development scenarios now, it is imperative for the City to have a mechanism in place to track these changes. For these reasons, staff believes that this urgency ordinance is needed to immediately preserve the public's interest in the development of an accurate general plan document.