The city shall ministerially process an application for an Urban Lot Split or Two-Unit Housing Development if all of the following qualifications are met:
(a) Applicable Zone. The property is located within one of the following single-family residential zones: R-1, R-A, R-E, R-O, or those HPD and RPD zones in which the predominate existing development is single-family residential.
(b) Affordable Housing or Rental Property Protection. Neither the Urban Lot Split nor any associated housing development shall require demolition or alteration of any of the following:
(1) Affordable Units. Housing that is subject to a recorded covenant, ordinance or law that restricts rents to levels affordable to persons and families of moderate, low, or very low income.
(2) Ellis Act Units. The parcel subject to the proposed project is not a parcel on which an owner of residential real property has exercised the owner’s rights under Chapter 12.75 (commencing with Section 7060) of Division 7 of Title 1 to withdraw accommodations from rent or lease within 15 years before the date that the development proponent submits an application.
(3) Rent Controlled Units. Housing that is subject to any form of rent or price control through a public entity’s valid exercise of its police power.
(4) Rental Units. Housing that has been occupied by a tenant in the last three (3) years.
(c) Demolition of Existing Housing. No more than twenty-five percent (25%) of the existing exterior structural walls of the dwelling unit may be demolished, unless the site has not been occupied by tenants within the last three (3) years.
(d) Restricted Land. The property shall not be located, in full or in part, in any of the following areas and shall not fall within any of the following categories:
(1) Historic. An historic district or property included on the State Historic Resources Inventory, as defined in Section 5020.1 of the Public Resources Code, or within a site that is designated or listed as a city or county landmark or historic property or district pursuant to a city or county ordinance, respectively.
(2) Farmland. Prime farmland or farmland of statewide importance as further defined in Government Code Section 65913.4(a)(6)(B).
(3) Wetlands. Wetlands as defined in the Unites States Fish and Wildlife Service Manual, Part 660 FW 2 (June 21, 1993).
(4) Fire Zone. A very high fire hazard severity zone as further defined in Government Code Section 65913.4(a)(6)(D). This shall not apply to sites excluded from the specified hazard zones by a local agency, pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 51179, or sites that have adopted fire hazard mitigation measures pursuant to existing building standards or state fire mitigation measures applicable to the development.
(5) Hazardous Waste Site. A hazardous waste site that is listed pursuant to Section 65962.5 or a hazardous waste site designated by the Department of Toxic Substances Control pursuant to Section 25356 of the Health and Safety Code, unless the State Department of Public Health, State Water Resources Control Board, or Department of Toxic Substances Control has cleared the site for residential use or residential mixed uses.
(6) Flood Zone. A special flood hazard area subject to inundation by the 1 percent annual chance flood (100-year flood) as determined by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in any official maps published by FEMA. If an applicant is able to satisfy all applicable federal qualifying criteria in order to provide that the site satisfies this subparagraph and is otherwise eligible for streamlined approval under this Section, the city shall not deny the application on the basis that the applicant did not comply with any additional permit requirement, standard, or action adopted by the city that is applicable to that site. A development may be located on a site described in this subparagraph if either of the following are met:
(i) The site has been subject to a Letter of Map Revision prepared by FEMA and issued to the city; or
(ii) The site meets FEMA requirements necessary to meet minimum flood plain management criteria of the Nation Flood Insurance Program as further spelled out in Government Code Section 65913.4(a)(6)(G)(ii).
(7) Earthquake Fault Zone. A delineated earthquake fault zone as determined by the State Geologist in any official maps published by the State Geologist, unless the development complies with applicable seismic protection building code standards adopted by the California Buildings Standards Commission under the California Building Standards Law and by the city’s Building Division.
(8) Floodway. A regulatory floodway as determined by FEMA in any of its official maps, published by FEMA unless the development has received a no-rise certification in accordance with Section 60.3(d)(3) of Title 44 of the Code of Federal Regulations. If an applicant is able to satisfy all applicable federal qualifying criteria in order to provide that the site satisfies this subparagraph and is otherwise eligible for streamlined approval under this Section, the city shall not deny the application on the basis that the applicant did not comply with any additional permit requirement, standard, or action adopted by the city that is applicable to that site.
(9) Planned for Habitat Conservation. Lands identified for conservation in an adopted natural community conservation plan, habitat conservation plan, or other adopted natural resource protection plan as further spelled out in Government Code Section 65913.4(a)(6)(l).
(10) Habitat for Protected Species. Habitat for protected species identified as candidate, sensitive, or species of special status by state or federal agencies, fully protected species, or species protected by the federal Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. Sec. 1531 et seq.), the California Endangered Species Act [Chapter 1.5 (commencing with Section 2050) of Division 3 of the Fish and Game Code], or the Native Plant Protection Act [Chapter 10 (commencing with Section 1900) of Division 2 of the Fish and Game Code].
(11) Conservation Easement. Lands under a conservation easement.
(§ 5, Ord. 1704-NS, eff. November 25, 2022)