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Home My WebLink About06/06/1990, 11 - WATER ALLOCATIONS FOR PROJECTS WHICH CHANGE. �I�IyAIyII��II�II�II pII g IIIMEETING DATE: cityIIII71 II�Y�NI�IIII C, of san LUis osispo June 6,3 990 990 INSMs COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT ITEM NUMBER: FROM: Arnold Jonas, ommunity Development Director PREPARED BY: Glen M tteson, Associate Planner SUBJECT: Water allocations for projects which change. CAO RECOMMENDATION By motion, give staff direction on any preferred changes from current procedures. DISCUSSION The city's Water Allocation Regulations limit development according to relationships between water supplies and water use. Following the regulations, staff must decide whether an allocation is needed and whether one is available when a building permit is applied for. Some projects have allocations reserved for them because they submitted applications for planning approval by a certain date. According to the regulations (Section 17.89.060 G and H) and the Administrative Interpretations endorsed by the council (Item 11) , transfer of site ownership has no effect on the allocation. However, if a building-permit application or a valid building permit expires, or a different project is proposed, the. allocation is forfeited. The council approved these rules to (1) discourage submittal of plans simply to "lock up" a water allocation, and (2) make available to other applicants who were ready to proceed those allocations which otherwise could be held indefinitely for a project that was not being pursued, regardless of the intent of the original applicant. Staff has understood the council's previous direction to be: a water allocation must be assigned to a specific project at a specific site, not just a project which could be built anywhere, or a site which could have any project with equivalent water use. In order to apply this rule to the wide range of proposals which are submitted, staff has been using the "new application" test to decide when project differences are simply revisions or a new project: A project in the planning-review "pipeline" retains its eligibility for a water allocation if changes can be accommodated as plan revisions; however, if the original application is denied or an applicant proposes something sufficiently different to require anew application, the eligibility for a water allocation is lost. A building-permit application retains its water allocation (or place in line for future allocations) if changes can be accommodated as plan revisions; however, if the building- permit application or a valid permit expire, or an applicant �,�n, ��i►�Ifi�! I�lilc�tY of san lues oBispoWRIMA jl COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT proposes something sufficiently different to require a new application, the water allocation is forfeited. Several applications, mostly single-family residences, have lost water allocations as a result of expired permits or a new owner's desire to build a different dwelling. In some cases, new projects proposed on the sites of "expired" projects would have the same or less water use than the previous project. Some, it could be argued, are "more attractive" or "more what the city .wants. " However, to be fair and to avoid becoming involved in quality-of-project issues or in judging applicant's intentions, staff has consistently followed the "new application" test. At the April 17, 1990,. council meeting, a citizen protested the application of this test to his recently created lot and a proposed house. He, or a possible new owner of the lot, wanted to build a conventional house, while a water allocation had originally been assigned to a dwelling atop a three-car garage. The revised project would require a new building permit and thus would, under current regulations, lose the water allocation. He correctly pointed out that the new owner could achieve his objective by exercising the current permit, and then making substantial remodels and additions (which are exempt from needing allocations) , and that the water-use consequences would be the - same. Council asked staff to return with an outline of possible responses to this issue. ALTERNATIVES Staff sees two basic options: 1. Continue to follow the "new application" test based on the adopted regulations and administrative interpretations. Applicants wanting to build different projects still would have to wait for allocations or obtain offsets (retrofits) . 2. Amend the regulations so that once an allocation is assigned to a project at a site, the site retains that equivalent allocation as credit toward any future proposal. (As a variation, allocating to sites could be limited to single- family residential lots. ) If the council prefers this option, staff will return with an ordinance for introduction at a future meeting. Staff would advise against trying to carry out this option simply through a directive from the council to interpret the regulations differently in a certain case or class of cases. Staff sees no compelling reasons to choose either option. No significant fiscal or environmental impacts are expected to 11111111011,11111111l1 aw of san Luis osi spo GONZa COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT result from either option. Following the current regulations will result in slightly less water use by new projects and more retrofitting, but quantified estimates are not available. Following the current regulations also may result in construction of some projects less desired by applicants or the city, simply to avoid loss of valuable water allocations. Staff knows of some projects that probably will not be built as originally approved, but preparing an inventory of such projects, even at one point in time, is not feasible. ATTACHMENTS Water Allocation Regulations Section 17.89.060 parts G and H Administrative Interpretations #1 gmD: ward-cc.wp ii-3 Water Allocation Regulations 17.89.060 ® B. Total water allocations from the general categories of reserves shall not exceed a two percent increase in the then-current July 1 safe annual yield during any year from July 1 to June 30. (For the period July 1, 1988, through June 30, 1989, this limit shall be 147.1 acre-feet. ) C. Affordable housing applications shall be allocated water from the general residential category until that reserve is exhausted, after which such applications shall be eligible for allocations from the affordable housing reserve. During any July the City Council may reassign all or part of any unused reserve from the affordable residential category to the general residential category, upon determining that there is no foreseeable. need for the amount to be reassigned. D. Projects in the special category shall be eligible for allocations only from the special reserve, until the special reserve is depleted: Once the special reserve is depleted, such applications shall be eligible for allocations from remaining categories, in the order complete construction permit applications are received. E. Developments with components in exclusive categories which cannot feasibly be separated must obtain any required water allocation for each applicable category. F. No project shall be allocated more than fifty percent (50$) of the available reserve within the appropriate category, provided that upon request by an applicant and upon finding that a larger allocation to the certain project would further the intent of these regulations, the Council may permit a larger portion of the available reserve to be. allocated to that project. For the purposes of this section, "project" means the smallest, whole development approved as a single discretionary action by the city; including the construction within the area of a certain parcel map, tract map, planned-development, use permit, or architectural approval. "Project" does not include an entire specific plan area.. G. A crater allocation shall be forfeited upon expiration of any building permit application or any valid building permit, or extension thereto, approved by the Chief Building Official. The Chief Building Official shall consider lack of water available for allocation a valid reason to extend a building permit application, without payment of additional fees. H. An allocation shall not be transferred from one site or development to another, but it may be otherwise transferred among parties. I. Despite any provision of these regulations to the contrary, after June 30,. 1989, there shall be no allocation of water r I Administrative Interpretations Water Allocation Ordinance The following arc administrative interpretations related to the Water Allocation Ordinance. 1. water allocations arc awarded to a specific project on a specific site. If either the project or the site change, any allocation shall be forfeited.. Minor modifications to a project which has received an allocation may be approved by the Director. Substantial modifications to a project, as determined by the Director, shall result in forfeiture of an allocation and require resubmission as a new project. In general, all discretionary planning permits and architectural review approvals must occur before submission of an application for a construction permit and eligibility for a water allocation. The only exceptions shall be the following: a. For projects in a new subdivision, construction permit applications may be accepted after tentative map approval and prior to final map approval. The construction permit shall not be issued until final map approval. b. Projects which need an administrative use permit for yard, height, or fcn_cc height exceptions or administrative exceptions for parking or driveway standards. If such administrative exceptions are necessar%,. the staff shall advise the applicant accordingly and the project proponent must apply for all nccessar_y exceptions within 30 days. If an application for the exceptions is not submitted within 30 days, any allocation shall be forfeited. If the exception is not granted, the applicant shall have 60/days in which to modify the project to otherwise meet standards. If after 60 days, a modified project meeting standards is not submitted, any allocation shall be forfeited. 3. For new projects replacing existing uses, the allocation necessary for the existing use shall be credited to the new project. When computing the amount of water to be credited, only the most recent use on the site shall be considered. •t. ncy projects on vacant lots which had a use which was demolished or abandoned after January I, 1987, shall be credited with the water allocation for the demolished or abandoned use. 5. If the low and moderate income reserve is not used in any year, and is rc-allocatcd into the general residential reserve for the next year, that amount shall be in addition to the 21% of SAY allowed for that next year. Similarly, forfeited allocations shall be added to the reserves immediately and, if originally allocated in a different year, shall be in addition to the 2% of the SAY allowed for the present year. /lam