Speaker 0: I emotion carries. Thank you. Next item is hearing 32. Or hearing.
Speaker 2: A lecture.
Speaker 4: Report from Development Services recommendation, receive supporting documentation into the record, conclude the public hearing. Declare Ordinance Amending Title 21 Zoning Regulations of the Long Beach Municipal Code. An ordinance amending and restating the Douglas Park Plan Development District. Read the first time and later the next regular meeting of the City Council for Final Reading and adopt a resolution to submit the ordinance amendments to the California Coastal Commission citywide.
Speaker 0: Okay. Let me turn this over to staff.
Speaker 6: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. We'll have a staff report from Christopher Koontz.
Speaker 3: Good evening again, Mr. Mayor. Members of the Council. What I'm going to do is go through a brief verbal summary of this item and then at the request of any council member, we also do have a more extended PowerPoint presentation, if so, to start, but to do the short summary. The city zoning code has not been comprehensively updated for more than 30 years, and because of this complex and outdated provisions exist throughout the code, the Planning Bureau conducts periodic tune ups to modernize and improve the readability of the city zoning code. That is the item that is before you. This evening, Staff has prepared a series of code amendments that address land use shoes and improve administrative processes. All of the items before you were noncontroversial. When approved by the Planning Commission on February 20th, 2020, I'm going to go through the changes themselves to the zoning code. There are eight. The first we have a zone C0 and C eight that have been eliminated, but there are still references to in the code this resolves that issue. The second is we have inconsistency in our industrial and commercial zones as to where personal storage can be located. That's a restricted use because it does not result in benefits to the city. And this clarifies that the third change is the largest change and I think most important change this evening, which is to allow aerospace, rocketry and space type uses to those type of manufacturers to exist in our industrial areas, including throughout the city. As a matter of right. These are uses that we lost over time, that when the defense industry and the aerospace industry left the city and we redeveloped the Boeing property as Douglas Park, the whole idea then was to replace those missing jobs. But we are the beneficiary of many new high technology rocketry and aerospace uses coming back, and this will provide greater flexibility to those uses to open up, make improvements and operate in the city. The fourth change allows temporary uses that are community serving to exist on vacant lots. The city has a vacant lot registry and fee program and we do allow vacant lots that commit themselves to some public purpose. Be that a location for a crop swap or community gathering or a bike repair station, any use that would be in partnership with the city on that vacant lot to exempt themselves from the fee. And this would make a corresponding change to the zoning code to allow those uses on a temporary basis. Number five eliminates prohibitions on storage, attics and accessory structures throughout the city. One of our strategies to improve parking shortages is to make sure that garages are usable by cars, not just by stuff that people accumulate. And this will allow greater opportunities to have storage areas, including in attics. Number six would allow our partners at Cal State, Long Beach and City College to operate satellite, publicly run uses within existing storefronts and buildings in the city and providing them a limited exemption from change of use parking requirements. Number seven clarifies that if you put up a fabric awning or some type of shade structure, that that's not a height violation and that provide some additional flexibility to property owners to not be in an enforcement situation by trying to have shade during the summer heat. And the final item to clarify is that when we do make changes like this and the zoning code, how those apply to our different what we call plan development districts and specific plans throughout the city, and that allows us to have a process going forward to continue making these changes to the code. And with that, I'm glad to answer any questions or if there were extensive questions that any council member wanted, the extended presentation that is also available.
Speaker 0: Think I have a motion by Councilwoman Mango. Can I get a second, please? Taken by Councilmember Pierce. Councilman Mongo, any questions?
Speaker 5: Not before was storage, I think. Hello. Something that was in the presentation that was new to me was storage. I don't think I had understood that this property would allow for storage. I thought we were adding the station, not storage.
Speaker 3: Council member, there were two issues related to storage. The city is very restrictive about where commercial storage, such as self storage, is located. There's no changes being made to that. It's just clarifying that use and using those words self storage, public storage, commercial storage within the zoning code instead of using what's called an SCC code which has led to confusion. So that was one change. And then the other change had to do with on residential properties, allowing attics on accessory structures. Right now you can have an attic in your single family home, you can have an attic over your garage if your garage is attached to your home. But if you have a detached garage, which most of the historic properties, most of the homes in Long Beach do have detached garages. Right now, you can't have an attic over that garage. This would allow you to have that attic, which gives homeowners an opportunity to store more stuff above their garage and put their car hopefully within the garage. So those were the two items dealing with storage.
Speaker 5: Well, you know, I'm always supportive of people parking garages. And as long as we weren't saying that the commercial properties would be allowed for self-storage, then I'm very supportive of that and I continue to make the motion. Thank you.
Speaker 0: Thank you. Counsel under the motion that can be council member Pearson. Any comments?
Speaker 2: Yes, thank you. I think that all of these changes are great. Glad to hear that they made them through planning without any issue. I did want to take the opportunity to ask a question about the process for other changes to our code and zoning. As we know, parking is extremely expensive for developers. We also know that the state has basically said that cities are allowed to make changes that allow for us to count one eve parking spot as two parking spots. And I'm wondering what the process is, because I know we've talked about this the last six months with staff. Would I need to bring an item forward or is that something that we could direct you to do today, to explore and see what you know, see if that's a good route?
Speaker 3: All right, Councilmember, you would not have to bring a separate item if you or the whole of the council want to give that direction to the city manager. We'd be glad to absorb that into our work program, I think, if we were going to tackle that issue. There's also our issue on our that we need to address at some point having to do with bike parking and whether you can buy a very small amount reduce here required vehicle parking if you put in extra bicycle parking. All of that would have to go through a public process and the Planning Commission process. But if that if the Council would like us to put that on our to do list, we'd be glad to do that.
Speaker 2: I would love to include in this motion directing staff to do a report on parking and the changes that need to be made to code to allow for more EV stations to be installed citywide. If that is acceptable by the first motion. Ah, that would be wonderful.
Speaker 0: I'm sorry, Mango. Councilwoman Mango.
Speaker 5: I unmuted and said, sure. Can you hear me now? Yes. Hello.
Speaker 0: The next up is Governor Richardson. Any comments?
Speaker 1: No, that was the second.
Speaker 0: Okay, great. Then let me go ahead and do a roll call vote.
Speaker 4: District one.
Speaker 2: I.
Speaker 4: District two. Art District three. I district for.
Speaker 1: Hi.
Speaker 4: District five.
Speaker 5: I want.
Speaker 4: District six.
Speaker 1: Hi.
Speaker 4: District seven.
Speaker 1: I.
Speaker 4: District eight.
Speaker 1: Hi.
Speaker 4: District nine.
Speaker 1: Hi.
Speaker 4: Motion carries.
Recommendation to declare ordinance amending the Long Beach Municipal Code by amending Sections 21.21.201, Table 21-1, Subsection 21.31.245.A.3, Subsection 21.31.245.C.4, Table 31-1, Table 31-2A, Table 31-7, Section 21.32.110, Section 21.32.120, Section 21.32.130, Subsection 21.32.225.A.1, Section 21.32.235, Table 32-1, Table 33-2, Chapter 21.37, and Table 41-1C; by adding Section 21.15.2395, Section 21.15.3005, Table 32-0, Section 21.45.151, and Section 21.53.115; and by repealing Table 32-1A, all related to Zoning Code Regulations, read and adopted as read.  (Citywide)