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PC RES 2013-017 P.C. RESOLUTION NO. 2013.17 A RESOLUTION OF THE PLANNING COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF RANCHO PALOS VERDES RECOMMENDING THAT THE CITY COUNCIL ADOPT AN ORDINANCE AMENDING RPVMC SECTION 17.76.100(G)(1) TO INCREASE PUBLIC NOTIFICATION OF A CITY TREE REVIEW PERMIT DECISION TO THE 20 CLOSEST PROPERTIES; AMENDING RPVMC SECTION 17.76.100(0)(1) TO CLARIFY THAT THE NOTIFIED PROPERTIES ARE TO BE PROPERTIES LOCATED WITHIN THE CITY OF RANCHO PALOS VERDES; AND AMENDING RPVMC SECTION 17.76.100(0)(3) TO REQUIRE THE CITY TO POST A NOTICE OF DECISION ON EACH TREE SUBJECT TO PERMIT APPROVAL, WITH THE EXCEPTION OF POSTING NOTICES ON TREES LOCATED IN AREAS THAT ARE TOO DIFFICULT OR HAZARDOUS TO ACCESS (CASE NO. ZON2013- 00239) WHEREAS, Section 17.76.1 X10 of Title 17 of the Rancho Palos Verdes Municipal Code (the "Municipal Code") sets forth various procedures and regulations regarding City Tree Review Permits; and, WHEREAS, on May 21, 2013, Mayor Brooks presented a request for the City Council to initiate a code amendment to improve and expand public notification for City Tree Review Permit (CTRP) decisions; and, WHEREAS, on May 21, 2013, the City Council initiated a code amendment to increase public notification for CTRP application decisions to Rancho Palos Verdes Municipal Code Section 17.76.100 (City Tree Review Permit); and,. WHEREAS, on June 20, 2013, notice of a public hearing on the proposed amendments to Section 17.76.100 of the Municipal Code was published in the Palos Verdes Peninsula News; and, WHEREAS, after notice was issued pursuant to the requirements of the Rancho Palos Verdes Development Code, the Planning Commission held a duly noticed public hearing on July 9, 2013, at which time Staff presented proposed code amendments to RPVMC Section 17.76.100. Based upon the recommendation of Staff, the Planning Commission moved to continue the public hearing to July 23, 2013; and, WHEREAS, on July 23, 2013, the Planning Commission held a public hearing, at which time all interested parties were given an opportunity to be heard and present evidence; NOW, THEREFORE, THE PLANNING COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF RANCHO PALOS VERDES DOES HEREBY FIND, DETERMINE, AND RESOLVE AS FOLLOWS: P.C. Resolution No. 2013-17 Page 1 of 6 Section 1: That the amendments to Title 17 of the Municipal Code are consistent with California Government Code Section 65853, zoning amendment procedures. Section 2: That the amendments to Title 17 are consistent with the Rancho Palos Verdes General Plan and Coastal Specific Plan in that they uphold, and do not hinder, the goals and policies of those plans. Specifically, the revisions to Section 17.76.100 will expand public notification for permit decisions where City trees significantly impair views from adjoining lots, which assists the Community Development Department to implement and uphold the Goals and policies of the City's General Plan. Section 3: The Planning Commission further finds, based upon its own independent review, that there is no substantial evidence that the amendments to Title 17 would result in new significant environmental effects, or a substantial increase in the severity of the effects, as previously identified the Negative Declaration adopted in conjunction with Ordinance No. 510 for amendments to Title 17 of the Municipal Code, because the new amendments merely expand or clarify certain notification requirements and/or codify policies and procedures that are currently in place. Accordingly, the Planning Commission hereby finds that Addendum (No. 6) to the prior Negative Declaration, which is attached hereto as Exhibit 'A" complies with the requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act. Section 4: That the amendments to Chapter 17.76,100 are necessary to preserve the public health, safety, and general welfare, as the proposed amendments will increase noticing of City Tree Review Permit decisions, which increases opportunities for property owners of Rancho Palos Verdes to adopt and trim City trees, so as to preserve City trees that otherwise would be removed. Section 5: That the subsections listed below of Section 17.76.100 (City Tree Review Permit) of Title 17 of the Municipal Code are hereby amended as follows (strike-out text is for removed language, and bold and underlined text is for new language): 17.76.100—City Tree Review Permit G. Notification. When the director makes a determination regarding a City tree review permit, written notice of the decision shall be given as follows: 1. When the foliage is located on a City street or easement, a notice of the determination to grant the application shall be sent to the applicant(s), the appropriate Homeowners Association, and the te-R twenty (4020) closest adjacent properties within the City of Rancho Palos Verde;, including the owner(s) of the property directly abutting or underlying the public right-of-way where the subject tree(s) and/or foliage are located. Adjacent properties shall include the te-R twenty (4-020) closest lots within the City of Rancho Palos P.C. Resolution No. 2013-17 Page 2 of 6 Verdes, which are on the same street, directly abutting and adjacent to the property where the tree and/or foliage are located. Notice of denial shall be given only to the applicant. 2. When the foliage is located in a City park, notice of the director's decision shall be given only to the applicant. 3. Notice of the permit determination to grant the application shall be posted by City Staff on a conspicuous-location on each tree that is subject of an application decision. For trees located on City property, notice of the determination shall not be posted on any tree where the Director determines that access to said tree is too difficult or hazardous to post the notice. Section 6: For the foregoing reasons, and based on the information and findings included in the Staff Report, the testimony and evidence presented at the public hearings, minutes, and other records of the proceedings, the Planning Commission of the City of Rancho Palos Verdes hereby recommends that the City Council adopt an Ordinance amending Section 17.76,100 of the City's Municipal Code, PASSED, APPROVED, AND ADOPTED this 23rd day of July 2013, by the following vote: AYES: Chairman Emenhiser, Commissioners Nelson, Tomblin, Gerstner NOES: None ABSTENTION: None ABSENT: Vice Chairman Leon, Commissioners Lewis, Tetreault RECUSALS: None D'6711d­ffmeniser Chairman Joel Roja Al P Communi D elopme D rector; and Secretary e Plannin ommission P.C. Resolution No. 2013-17 Page 3 of 6 EXHIBIT "A"' (Addendum No. 6 to Negative Declaration) Project Background: On June 1, 2010, the City Council adopted Resolution No. 2010-43, thereby adopting a Negative Declaration for miscellaneous amendments to Title 17 of the City's Municipal Code to enact the Residential Development Standards Steering Committee Code Amendment and Zone Change (Ordinance No. 510). Prior to its adoption, the Negative Declaration was circulated for public comment from April 1, 2010, through May 1, 2010. In adopting the Negative Declaration, the City Council found that: 1) the Negative Declaration was prepared in the manner required by law and that there was no substantial evidence that, with appropriate mitigation measures, the approval of the Residential Development Standards Steering Committee Code Amendment and Zone Change (Case No. ZON2007-00377) would result in a significant adverse effect upon the environment; and 2) that the Residential Development Standards Steering Committee Code Amendment and Zone Change were consistent with the Rancho Palos Verdes General Plan and with the Coastal Specific Plan. On September 21, 2010, the City Council adopted Ordinance No, 513U, thereby approving Addendum No. 1 to the certified ND, to make minor changes to Chapter 17,38 of the Development Code to correct the omission of Specific Plan District VII, and to change the designation of specific plan districts from numbered to descriptive titles. On November 15, 2011, the City Council adopted Ordinance No. 529, thereby approving Addendum No. 2 to the certified ND and approving miscellaneous "clean-up" code amendments to Title 17 (Zoning) of the City's Development Code which clarified code language, removed code language discrepancies, and codified existing policy procedures and/or application requirements. On February 7, 2012, the City Council adopted Ordinance No. 532, thereby approved Addendum No. 3 to the certified ND and approving a change in the allowable movement of an open space hazard boundary line from thirty feet to one hundred feet through an interpretation procedure. On April 3, 2012, the City Council approved adopted Ordinance No, 535, thereby approving Addendum No. 4 to the Certified ND for a code amendment to revise Chapters 17.02, 17.04, and 17.98 of the Municipal Code to regulate the number of residential garage sales. On July 16, 2013, the City Council approved Resolution No. 2013-48 that approved Addendum No. 5 to the Certified ND for a code amendment to revise Chapter 17.76.030 of the Development Code pertaining to the Fences, Walls and Hedges permits. Proposed Amendments: The proposed code amendment to revise Chapter 17.76.100 of the Municipal Code (City Tree Review Permit) would revise code language to expand public notification of City Tree Review Permit approvals and clarify that only City of Rancho Palos Verdes are notified of the permit approvals. Purpose: This Addendum to the previously-certified Negative Declaration is being prepared pursuant to Section 15164 of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines which allows for the lead agency to prepare an addendum to an adopted Negative Declaration if only minor technical changes or additions are necessary or none of the conditions described in Section 15162 calling for the preparation of a subsequent EIR or Negative Declaration have occurred. Pursuant to CEQA Section 15162, no subsequent Negative Declaration shall be prepared for the project unless the lead agency determines, on the basis of substantial evidence in P.C. Resolution No, 2013-17 Page 4 of 6 light of the whole record, one or more of the following: I Substantial changes are proposed in the project that will required major revisions of the previous Negative Declaration due to the involvement of new, significant environmental effects or a substantial increase in the severity of previously identified significant effects; 2. Substantial changes occur with respect to the circumstances under which the project is undertaken which will required major revisions of the previous Negative Declaration due to the involvement of new significant environmental effects or a substantial increase in the severity or previously identified significant effects; or, 3. New information of substantial importance identifies one or more significant effects not discussed in the previous Negative Declaration, significant effects previously examined will be substantially more severe than shown in the previous Negative Declaration, mitigation measures or alternative previously found not to be feasible or not analyzed in the Negative Declaration would be feasible and would substantially reduce one or more significant effects but the project proponents decline to adopt a measure or alternative. Findings Regarding the Proposed Project Revisions: Staff analyzed the proposed code amendment revisions to Section 17.76,100 to determine if any impacts would result. The Planning Commission has independently reviewed this item and has determined that, pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15162, a new Negative Declaration is not required for this revision because the proposed amendments will not result in any new significant environmental effects. 1. The proposed revisions do not result in any new significant environmental effects and, like Ordinance No. 510, 513U, 529, 532, 535, and 546 no significant impacts have been identified. The revisions to Title 17 (Zoning) do not present new significant environmental impacts because they merely modify or clarify certain requirements and/or codify policy procedures application requirements. Therefore, the proposed revisions do not represent a substantial change in the code, and will not result in new significant environmental impacts or a substantial increase in the severity of any impacts. 2. The proposed revisions will not result in any significant environmental impacts, and the circumstances under which the project is being undertaken have not substantially changed since the CEQA determination was made for Ordinance No. 510. The scope of the proposed revisions relate to minor modifications that merely modify or clarify certain requirements and/or codify policies and procedures that are currently in place. There are no changes with respect to the circumstances under which the revisions are undertaken that will require major revisions of the previous Negative Declaration. I No new information of substantial importance, which was not known and could not have been known with the exercise of reasonable diligence at the P.C. Resolution No. 2013-17 Page 5 of 6 time the prior Negative Declaration was adopted, identifies a significant environmental effect. Because the proposed revisions would not result in any new or more severe environmental impacts than those associated with Ordinance No. 510, there is no need for new or substantially modified mitigation measures. Therefore, pursuant to CEQA, the Planning Commission finds that no further environmental review is necessary other than the City Council's adoption of this Addendum No. 6. P.C. Resolution No. 2013-17 Page 6 of 6