Title
Receive a status report regarding updates to the zoning maps in the Fort Ord Planning Area; and Provide direction to staff.
Report
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends that the Fort Ord Committee:
a. Receive a status report regarding updates to the zoning maps in the Fort Ord Planning Area; and
b. Provide direction to staff.
SUMMARY:
The 2010 General Plan includes land use maps that establish land use designations for properties within the unincorporated, non-coastal, areas. Zoning is required to be consistent with the General Plan land Use maps. Staff has considered several components and options as part of updating zoning maps for the inland unincorporated areas of Monterey County. Staff is seeking comments and direction from the Fort Ord Committee on three options within the Fort Ord Planning Area:
1. Community Plan (CP) zoning district. Zone all of Fort Ord as a Community Plan area (“CP”);
2. Specific zoning districts. Apply designations from the Base Reuse Plan Land Use Designations and the Habitat Management Plan restrictions; or
3. Defer Zoning of the Fort Ord Area. Omit Fort Ord from the current zoning update efforts and address Fort Ord zoning in the future. The entire Fort Ord area would remain in the Public/Quasi Public (PQP) zoning district.
At this time, staff recommends Option 1 consistent with the Community Plan designation, objectives and policies provided within the 2010 General Plan, similar to the Castroville Community Plan. The Planning Commission raised a concern about using land use designations from the 2010 Fort Ord Master Plan, and recognized that additional outreach and deliberation was needed for the Fort Ord area.
Land use actions within the former Fort Ord require a consistency determination by the Fort Ord Reuse Authority (FORA).
DISCUSSION:
Monterey County’s 2010 General Plan (GP) was adopted by the Board of Supervisors in October 2010 (4-1 vote). Resource Management Agency (RMA) - Planning staff is in the process of updating the zoning designations, and related regulations, for the inland unincorporated areas of Monterey County. Zoning maps are required to be consistent with general plan land use maps. The Fort Ord Base Reuse Plan (BRP) contains policy direction requiring Monterey County to update our zoning standards to be consistent with the BRP land use objectives and policies. According to a Reassessment report prepared by FORA in 2013, Monterey County has not implemented an update to the zoning for Fort Ord.
In 2014, the Board of Supervisors (3-2 vote) adopted a separate resolution finding the County’s General Plan consistent with the Fort Ord Base Reuse Plan and directed staff to forward the plan to the Fort Ord Reuse Authority (FORA) for a consistency determination. The FORA Administrative Committee and FORA staff unanimously found the County General Plan consistent. FORA Board of Directors voted 8-5 finding the plan consistent, which required a second vote. The second vote resulted in a 6-6 tie. As such, the County’s 2010 General Plan has not been found consistent with the 1997 Base Reuse Plan (BRP) by FORA. However, in 2002, the FORA Board did determine that the 2001 General Plan Amendment adopting the Fort Ord Element as part of the 1982 General Plan was consistent with the BRP.
Currently lands within the former Fort Ord area are designated as Public/Quasi-Public (PQP), which was established when the lands were under federal control. As such, zoning within the Fort Ord area is not consistent with the General Plan or the BRP land use designation. Based on FORA actions, staff relies on the 2001 Fort Ord Element/1982 General Plan to determine land use designations in the Fort Ord area. Changes of land use designations require the County to establish new regulations within the zoning code as well as update the zoning maps.
The following is a discussion of three options for consideration:
Option 1 - Community Plan (CP) zoning district
This option would rezone the entire Fort Ord area, excluding the area west of Highway 1, from Public Quasi Public (PQP), to a Community Plan (CP) zoning district. The “CP” zoning district defers to the adopted Community Plan for acceptable land uses and applicable development regulations. In the Fort Ord area, the CP zoning designation would refer to land use from the 2001 Fort Ord Element that was found consistent by the FORA Board in 2002.
According to the current zoning ordinance (Title 21 - Inland Zoning) the CP zoning district designates an area for which a Community Plan has been adopted. In the 2010 General Plan (GP), the unincorporated portion of the former Fort Ord was designated a Community Area. Policy LU-2.24 of the GP states that the Fort Ord Master Plan shall serve as the Community Plan for the entire Ford Ord Community Area, and the East Garrison Specific Plan is to act as a Community Plan for that specific area.
Option 2 - Specific Zoning Districts
This approach would involve applying a zoning designation, such as Light Commercial (LC), Low Density Residential (LDR), etc to specific parcels within the Fort Ord Planning Area. Zoning maps would reflect the land use designations illustrated and described in the land use map of 2001 Fort Ord Element. Land use designations not currently found in Title 21 would require establishing new regulations within the zoning code.
A challenge with this approach is that the 2001 Fort Ord Element/1982 General Plan and the Base Reuse Plan developed site specific policies, districts, and overlay districts that in most cases do not align with the County’s existing zoning districts and development standards. For instance, Fort Ord residential districts allow different (higher) density than the County’s residential districts, and the uses allowed in the BRP districts are not similar to existing zoning regulations in the County’s Zoning Code. If this approach were taken, the County would either need to create new zoning districts within the zoning code or amend the regulations in the existing zoning districts.
Option 3 - Defer Zoning of the Fort Ord Area.
This approach would allow staff to continue updating the zoning maps for the inland areas of Monterey County excluding the Fort Ord area. The entire Fort Ord area would remain in the Public/Quasi Public (PQP) zoning district, and the tasks of updating the zoning maps would remain unimplemented in Fort Ord as identified in FORA’s reassessment report. In this case, the specific task of updating the zoning for the Fort Ord area would be separated out from the current update of the inland zoning maps and would likely not be implemented until the following related efforts are completed:
1. Department of Finance approval of the Monterey County Successor Agency’s Long-Range Property Management Plan.
2. The Base Reuse Plan Reassessment Process (Category 4) currently under review by FORA; and
3. Processing and approval of any General Plan amendments necessitated by the outcomes of items 1 and 2 above.
OTHER AGENCY INVOLVEMENT:
On December 10, 2014 workshop the Planning Commission was presented information regarding the update to the zoning maps for the inland area. The Commission raised a concern about using land use designations from the 2010 Fort Ord Master Plan. Additionally, the Planning Commission recognized that additional outreach and deliberation was needed for the Fort Ord area.
FINANCING:
Funding for staff time associated with this project is included in the FY 2014-2015 Adopted Budget for RMA - Planning.
Prepared by: Craig Spencer, Associate Planner, Resource Management Agency - Planning Grace Bogdan, Assistant Planner, Resource Management Agency - Planning
Approved by: Jacqueline R. Onciano, RMA Services Manager
This report was reviewed by: Carl P. Holm, AICP, Acting Director, Resource Management Agency
cc: Front Counter Copy; Fort Ord Committee; Parks Department; Jacqueline Onciano, RMA Services Manager; Craig Spencer, Planner; Grace Bogdan; Planner; Melanie Beretti, RMA Special Projects Manager; Carl Holm, Acting Director of the RMA; FORA (M. Houlemard, S. Endsley, J. Garcia); City of Seaside (D. Ingersol); City of marina (L. Long); The Open Monterey Project (M. Erickson); LandWatch (A. White, J. Farrow); Jane Haines; Sierra Club; Planning File REF140023