Title
a. Consider the 2019 Annual Progress Report for the Monterey County General Plan(s); and
b. Consider the 2019 Annual Progress Report for the 2015-2023 Housing Element;
c. Authorize the RMA Director to submit the final progress reports to the State Office of Planning and Research and State Department of Housing and Community Development.
Proposed CEQA Action: Not a project per Sections 15060(c)(1) and 15378(b)(4) of the CEQA Guidelines.
Report
RECOMMENDATION:
It is recommended that the Board of Supervisors:
a. Find that submitting these annual reports is not a project subject to CEQA per Section 15060(c)(1) and 15378(b)(4) of the CEQA Guidelines;
b. Accept the 2019 Annual Progress Report for the Monterey County General Plan(s) pursuant to Government Code Section 65400 (Attachment A, Exhibit 1);
c. Accept the 2019 Annual Progress Report for the 2015-2023 Housing Element to comply with State Department of Housing and Community Development requirements (Exhibit 2 of Attachment A);
d. Authorize the RMA Director to submit the final progress reports to the State Office of Planning and Research and State Department of Housing and Community Development, as required.
SUMMARY:
Annual reports are required to: provide status of the General Plan and progress in its implementation; evaluate progress in meeting the Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA); list sites owned by the county and included in the inventory of land in the Housing Element that have been sold, leased or otherwise disposed of in the prior year; and identify the degree to which the approved General Plan complies with State guidelines. For the County of Monterey, annual reports are required for:
2010 General Plan, as amended, for inland areas; 1982 General Plan and certified Land Use Plans, as amended, for coastal areas; and 2015-2023 Housing Element, countywide. Attachment A includes the 2019 annual reports for Board consideration:
1) General Plan Implementation;
2) Housing Element/RHNA; and
3) List of County-owned sites disposed in the past year.
This report discusses the status of Monterey County General Plan(s), including progress on implementing Housing Element objectives, General Plan Amendments/Updates, and/or implementing ordinances completed. Reports to the state are required to detail what has been completed over the past year. There were no amendments processed or completed for the 2010 General Plan (Inland) in 2019.
Some minor amendments were made to the Local Coastal Programs (Coastal). Staff did make progress on several Long-Range Planning tasks that were identified as priority for calendar year
2019 as described briefly below in the Discussion and in more detail in the attached detailed Discussion (Attachment B).
DISCUSSION:
Background:
Government Code Section 65400 (a)(2) requires cities and counties to provide an annual report to the legislative body regarding the status of the General Plan and progress in its implementation and the degree to which the General Plan is consistent with the General Plan Guidelines adopted by the Governor’s Office of Planning and Research (OPR). The state law states that the Planning Agency shall provide by April 1 an annual report to the legislative body (Board of Supervisors), State Office of Planning and Research (OPR) and State Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD). “Planning Agency” as defined by Monterey County Code includes the Board of Supervisors (Board), Planning Commission, Resource Management Agency (RMA) and other hearing bodies.
The Resource Management Agency (RMA) is lead for preparing the Annual Progress Report for the County’s General Plan Implementation (GPI). Housing and Economic Development, part of the County Administrative Office, is lead for preparing the Annual Progress Report relative to the 2015-2023 Housing Element. Specific requirements pertain to the Housing Element portion of the General Plan. As such, there is a separate report identifying how the County’s housing efforts conform to specific content requirements from the State. Both reports must be submitted to OPR and HCD by April 1st of each year. Although staff missed this deadline, we have been in contact with the State, and they agreed to the reports being submitted in May.
Housing Element:
A detailed account of progress towards the Housing Element and RHNA numbers can be found in Attachment A. The following is a summary of that report:
• 223 units added to the County’s RHNA counts, consisting of
o 8 Moderate; and
o 215 Above Moderate.
• 90 Planning Entitlements granted consisting of
o 68 Single Family Dwellings (SFDs);
o 7 ADUs; and
o 15 projects with 5+ units (Incl. 7 employer sponsored housing providing 112 beds)
• 227 Building Permits issued, consisting of
o 214 SFDs; and
o 13 ADUs
• 245 Certificates of Occupancy Issued/Building Permit Final consisting of:
o 211 SFDs;
o 10 ADUs; and
o 24 projects with 5+ units (Incl. 24 unit inclusionary employer project)
• Zero sites owned by the county and included in the inventory of land in the Housing Element were sold, leased or otherwise disposed of in the prior year pursuant to Government Code sec. 65400.1
2019 Planning Priority Project Summary:
The following is a summarized update on what has been completed in 2019 from the list of priority projects that was presented to the Board of Supervisors last year. A more detailed discussion on each item can be found in Attachment B:
• Moss Landing Community Plan Update. Significant progress was made on the comprehensive update and preparation of EIR to address long-range plans in the Moss Landing area, and to update policies to address current issues such as sea level rise. The final draft version of the Community Plan is anticipated to be brought to the Planning Commission in mid-late 2020. Staff anticipates a Board of Supervisors hearing date for consideration of adoption of the MLCP is likely to be late 2020 or early 2021, following appropriate environmental review.
• Salinas Valley Groundwater Basin Investigation. The Salinas Valley Integrated Groundwater and Surface Water Hydrologic Model (SVIHM) being developed by USGS has been delayed and is anticipated to be complete this summer 2020. This model will enable the County’s recently contracted consultant to complete the Salinas Valley Groundwater Basin Investigation, which is anticipated to be completed in late 2020/early 2021.
• Ag Land Mitigation Program. Staff is working with the California Department of Conservation to finalize the Ag Land Program and implement related work plan.
• Development Evaluation System (DES). The Planning Commission has provided a recommendation to move the draft DES forward to the Board of Supervisors for review and direction. The draft DES will be brought to the Board of Supervisors for direction in May 2020.
• Water and Energy Efficient Landscape Ordinance/Water Conservation Ordinance/ Fire Resistance Plant List /Invasive Plant Policy and Procedures. Staff has drafted Coastal and Inland Water and Energy Efficient Landscape ordinances and an accompanying design manual and has held two stakeholder working group meetings as directed by the Board in 2019. Staff anticipates bringing the final draft of the ordinance and implementation manual to the BOS for adoption in June/July 2020.
• Community Climate Action Plan. A new Sustainability Program Manager was hired in February, and will begin working again on the Action Plan in the year 2020.
• Zoning Map Updates (Ordinance). Due to staff constraints, updates to the zoning maps have been placed on hold. Staff will need to assess priorities for completing this task.
• Carmel River Floodplain Restoration & Environmental Enhancement (CRFREE) Projects. In March 2019, the draft EIR/EA for the CRFREE project was circulated for public review, and the final EIR/EA was certified by the Board in January 2020. County staff is currently working on securing grants to complete pre-construction work and implementation.
• Vacation (aka Short-Term) Rentals. The draft vacation rental ordinances and proposed environmental documentation was were released in in Spring 2019 with a subsequent Planning Commission workshop for direction. Staff will be returning to the Planning
Commission in June 2020 to present the modified ordinances before bringing them to the Board for direction in late summer/early fall of 2020.
Other 2019 Accomplishments:
Several other tasks were assigned as priorities and completed in 2019 which were not presented to the Board of Supervisors during the previous reporting period. A detailed discussion of these items is available in Attachment B. The follow is a brief summary of those items:
• Cannabis Regulations. Several amendments to ordinances relating to commercial cannabis uses were completed within this reporting period:
• Hemp Regulations. With input from the Board and feedback from town hall meetings, staff drafted an ordinance that was adopted on July 10, 2019 creating a one-year pilot program.
• Fort Ord. RMA continues to process matters relative to the East Garrison project and working with FORA on matters in anticipation of the June 30, 2020 dissolution of FORA.
• Airport Land Use Compatibility Plan (ALUCP). Airport Land Use Compatibility Plans (ALUCP) for the Monterey Regional and Marina Municipal Airports were adopted.
• Condition of Approval and Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting Program (Revision). On July 23, 2019, staff brought the fourth amendment to the COAMMRP to the BOS which provided major clarifications to the Program and better facilitated the Program’s implementation.
• Proof of Access Ordinance (Update). On September 17, 2019, the Board of Supervisors adopted an ordinance removing the Proof of Access Ordinance from the Zoning Chapters of County Code and placing it in Chapter 16.80, which covers the entire County.
• Land Use Fees Update. RMA updated Land Use Fees in 2019 to achieve a higher percentage of cost recovery without exceeding the actual costs of doing business, including revising the format to make permitting fees more understandable for the public as a tiered structure.
• Mixed Use Regulations (Ordinance). County staff began work on a draft Mixed Use Ordinance to create new opportunity for more affordable housing options within the County.
• Native American and Archaeological Resource Technical Advisory Panel (NAARTAP). In February 2020, the Planning Commission officially appointed members of the NAARTAP, representing the implementation of a General Plan item.
2020 Plan:
In an effort to help focus resources and improve progress on planned tasks in 2020 and moving forward, RMA created a priorities matrix to help track all priority projects that have been assigned to the agency. This will help the RMA Director manage department priorities and communicate with the Board of Supervisors regarding resources (staff, funding) relative to workload that will inform where resources should be allocated. In addition, funds from the new General Plan Implementation Fee (GPUI) are intended to be ear-marked exclusively for Long Range Planning resources, such as additional staff to work wholly on Long Range Planning.
Priority tasks for Long Range Planning in 2020 (calendar year relative to these reports) are:
- DES Program: Bring Program to Board to consider adoption
- ADU Ordinance: Bring ordinance to Board to consider adoption to update County Codes to align with State regulations
- Mixed Use Ordinance - an ordinance to establish regulation for this zoning district: bring ordinance to Planning Commission for recommendation and to Board to consider adoption.
- Landscape Ordinance; Bring ordinance and associated manual to Board to consider adoption.
- Big Sur Land Use Plan Update; Bring Plan to Planning Commission for recommendation and to Board to consider approval before transmitting to Coastal Commission for certification
- Moss Landing Community Plan Update; Bring Plan to Planning Commission for recommendation and to Board to consider approval before transmitting to Coastal Commission for certification
- Chualar Community Plan; Planning Staff begin work with consultant on drafting Community Plan
- Castroville Community Plan Impact Fees; Board to consider approving new impact fees based on completed Nexus Study
- STR Ordinance; Bring draft ordinance to Planning Commission and Board to establish the draft for CEQA analysis
CEQA
Staff finds that progress reports are not projects as defined by the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), Guidelines Sections 15060(c) (3) and 15378. These reports are an administrative activity that will not result in direct or indirect physical changes to the environment. They are for information purposes only. Activities identified in these reports implement policies of the 2010 General Plan and the 2015 Housing Element, which were subject to CEQA review. In addition, CEQA will be addressed, as appropriate, with each task as it is completed.
OTHER AGENCY INVOLVEMENT:
Implementation of the 2010 General Plan involves close coordination between all the land use departments/agencies (Planning, Public Works, Environmental Services, Environmental Health, and Water Resources Agency). Implementation of the Housing Element relates to activities being undertaken by both the Cao-Economic Development Division (Housing Office) and RMA-Planning. In addition, the County Counsel’s office actively participates in the legal review of ordinances and plans that are prepared as part of General Plan implementation (GPI) and other needed updates.
FINANCING:
Currently, implementation work is performed by staff. Some outside finds have been acquired (e.g. SALC), but there has been no General Plan Implementation (GPI) augmentation to the General Fund for contacted support services since 2015. There are aspects of the work that require technical expertise that is only available through outside consultants. Approximately
$1,149,867 (excludes anticipated estimated) has been expended for outside consultant assistance, 2011-2015 when funds were allocated for that purpose. Staff continues to seek grant funding, where available, to help with implementation and LCP update efforts.
BOARD OF SUPERVISORS STRATEGIC INITIATIVES:
This action represents effective and timely reporting on the implementation of the Monterey County General Plan(s) to our RMA customers. This report provides the County accountability for proper management of our land resources
Check the related Board of Supervisors Strategic Initiatives:
__ Economic Development
X Administration
Health & Human Services
__ Infrastructure
__ Public Safety
Prepared by: Brandon Swanson, RMA Services Manager (Planning), ext. 5334
Approved by: John M. Dugan, FAICP, Resource Management Agency Deputy Director of Land Use and Community Development/Acting Chief of Planning
The following documents are on file with the Clerk of the Board:
Attachment A - Annual Progress Report for the Monterey County 2010 General Plan
Implementation:
Exhibit 1 - 2019 Annual Progress Report Summary Matrix
Exhibit 2 - 2019 Annual Housing Element Progress Report
Attachment B - Detailed Discussion
CC: Front Counter Copy; Fenton & Keller (David C. Sweigert); Brian Finegan Law Office (Michael Harrington); Grower-Shipper Association (Jim Bogart); Law Offices of Michael D. Cling (Michael Cling); Monterey County Farm Bureau (Norm Groot); Salinas Valley Water Coalition (Nancy Isakson); Prunedale Neighbors Group (Ed Mitchell); Anthony Lombardo and Associates (Dale Ellis); Horan Lloyd Law Firm (Pamela Silkwood); Big Sur Multi-Agency Advisory Council c/o Kathleen Lee; Highway 68 Coalition (Mike Weaver); Carmel Residents Association; Carmel Valley Association; Marjorie Kay; The Open Monterey Project (Molly Erickson); LandWatch (Michael DeLapa); Janet Brennan; John H. Farrow; Carl Holm; Wendy Strimling; Brandon Swanson; Planning File No. REF190011.