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Home My WebLink AboutORD 3705. ; . ' • ORDINANCE NO. 3705 ORIGINAL ORDINANCE OF THE COUNCIL o~-=TH~E~·-c~t=Ty OF PALO ALTO IMPOSING A MORATORIUM ON THE ISSUING OF LAND USE APPROVALS OR BUILDING PERMITS FOR USES NOT IN CON-. I . FO.RMANCE WITH THE FLOOR AREA RATIO POLl CY OF THE GOLDEN TRIANGLE TASK FORCE AND DECLARING AN EMERGENCY WHEREAS, the rapid growth of employment in the Golden Tri angle area of Santa Clara County has exceeded the construction of necessary transportation capacity and housing supply, and traffic congestion has become a critical problem; and WHEREAS, c i tie.s within the Golden Triangle and con ti guo us ar.eas of Santa Clara County have created a Golden Triangle Task Force to address the imbalance between the capacity of transporta tion infrastructures, employment densiti~s, and the housing supply, and have developed a Golden Triangle Strategic Plan - P.ha se I: and WHEREAS, a crucial part of the Strategic Plan includes an interim floor area rat.io policy to be imposed in industrial and commercial zones by the participating communi ties in order to limit the density of new development in the short-term; and WHEREAS 1 the floor area pol icy is in tended to be i:,l place unti 1 a study is conducted and a comprehen:Ji ve set of land use and transportation policies can be developed 1 and WHEREAS, on July 28 1 1986, the City Council decided to adopt the Phase I objectives and participate in Phase II of the Golden Triangle Task Force and to adopt the interim floor area policy to be in effect by September 1, 1986. NOW, THEREFORE, the Council of the City of Palo Alto does ORDAIN as follows: SECTION l. Definitions. apply: The following definitioris shall (a) "Floor area ratio (FAR)" means the ratio of the total . existing and propos~d gt"Q$1:1 building floor area within a development project: to· the total net land area of the project. (b) "Project" means one or more parcels, ·shown on the latest County Assessor-t s parc~l map, which are con tiguous or separated only by public streets and which are under commc:m ownership at the time of approval for n~w devalupm~~t. 'I ,• ·,;'Ill I, : ···: .. . • I • ! . • • . . (c) •warehouse facilities" means a building with at least ninety percent ( 90%) of its gross floor ar;ea ·devoted to storage and legally restricted from convert ing to other uses. SECTION ·2. _ .A. moratorium is imposed on the granting by the City of any land use approvals or building permits for any new de.velopment project which exceeds a floor area ratio (FAR) of .35 on a project average. This moratorium shall apply to all indus trial and commercial uses within industrial and commercial zones. SECTION 3. Section 2 above notwithstanding, a land use approval and/or building permit may be granted for the following uses in any commercial or industrial zone where such use is a permitted or conditional use: (a) Branch bank {b) Hospital ( c ) Hotel (d) Restaurant facilities (e) Retail ( f) Warehouse facilities up to a FAR of .so. SECTION 4. Section 2 above notwithstanding, this ordinance shall not apply: (a) Within the Commercial Downtown (CD) zone; the boundaries of which are shown on the ~ap attached hereto as Exnibit A. . (b) Within the California Avenue Parking Asse.ss ment District, the boundaries of which are shown on the map altached hereto as Exhibit B. (c) Within any commercial or industrial zone where current ordinances controlling densities are more re strictive than .35 FAR. (d) To the Geng Rqad parcel at the northeast cor ner of Geng Road; and Embarcadero Road which the voters authori~•d at th~ November 1985 election to be cortveyed for private development as an exchange for the Winter Lodge skating facility. The boundaries of the Geng Road parcel ere shown on the map attached he~eto as Exhibit c. . . 2. ., '.j • ,. • • SECTION 5 •. Projects having a FAR in excess of .. 35, which have been granted all discretionary approvals prior to the effec tive date of this ot'dinance, shall· be granted building per.mits in conformance with the origlnal approval. The time li'inits of .a discretfonary approval may be extended by the director of planning· and community environment in accordance with section 16.48.130 of the Palo· Alto Municipal Code, provided however, that no building permits shall be granted which would result in a higher FAR than originally approved. SECTION ~. This moratorium shall be in effect until June 30, 1987, unless -sooner terminated by the Council. SECTION 7~ Any existing provisions of Chapters 16.04, 16.48 and Titles 18 and 21 of the Palo ~lto Municipal Code which are in con fl ic t or incons.i s tent with anything contained hf!re in are hereby superceded. SECTION 8" The Council finds that none of the provisions of this ordinance will have a significant environmental impact. SECTION 9. Based on the reasons set forth above, the Council declares that the enactment of the moratorium imposed herein is necessary as an emergency measure to protect the public peace, hea.lth and safety and shall be effective immediately upon adop tion. This ordinance was introduced at a regular metlting of the Council of the City of Palo Alto on August 25, 1986, and was passed bn a four-fifths vote of all Council members present at the meeting as follows: INTRODUCED AND PASSED: September 2, 1986 AYES: Bechtel, Cobb, Fletcher, KlBin, Levy, Patitucci, Renzel, Sutorius, Woolley NOES: None ABSTENTIONS: None· ABSENT.: None Mayor · · · · · • 3. ": : ' '··: ' , .. · .. ----------------~----------------------~~----~ • • SECTION 5. Projects having a FAR in excess of .35, which have been granted all discretionary approvals prior to the effec tive date of this ordinance, shall be granted building permits ·in conformance with the original approval. The time limits o~ a discretionary approval may be extended by the director of plann\ing and community environment,in accordance with section 16~48.13C of the Palo Alto Municipal Code, provided however, .that no building permits shall be granted which would result in a higher FAR than originally approved. SECTION 6. This moratorium shall be in effect until June 30, 1987, unless sooner terminated by the Council. SECTION 7. Any existing provisions of Chapters 16. 04, 16. 48 and Titles 18 and 21 of the Palo Alto Municipal Code which are in conflict or inconsistent with anything contained herein are hereby superceded. SECTION B. The Council finds that none of the provisions of this ~rdinance will have a significant environmental impact. SECTION 9. Based on the reasons set forth above, the Council declares that the enactment of the moratorium imposed herein is necessary as an emergency measure to protect the public peace, health and safety and shall be effective immediately upon adop tion. This ordinance was introduced at a regular meeting of the Council of the City of Palo Alto on August 25, 1986, and was passed on a f.our-fi fths vote of all Council members present at the meeting as follows: INTRODUCED AND PASSED: September 2, 1986 AYES: Bechtel, Cobb, Fletcher, Klein, Levy, Patitucci, Renzel, $utorius, Woolley NOES: None ABSTENTIONS: None ABSENT: None Mayor · · 3 •. ,.; I .. . • • 4. ••• • • -- i . ·, I . 0 Total Number Of Parking S~.S .. ) 0 Parking F.ciUty .. CITY MAKING LOTS 1 ST l l ·- NOIT H CO~TY LlJ CT !SE. ~ 1"\ 1,/"/' 1 i -- • ST ,,, ,.,, ~--~.-' . ~----...,.z·.· .·. ·' 4 ct ~': ..,......,... ~ . " ..., 1&1 c c cf 0 -1&1 z ...J c « _, CD 0 0 2 .... ~ -c ..J (J Cl I \,..) -I • R • I • l .. ...___ EL CAMINO . -I· ... · :, l . i •• • .. ' .. ' • PF{O) f • .. ·-' ~. ~ '• ~l.C' ,._ ~il"' .,.,-.,_ ~er ... 1 cc.~ .. -.!"..£ LM\0)(3) '. · ..... ... . ~ "' IPC.-3350 1 . ; LM(D)(3) I l.M(D)(3) .. PF(D) . .· ~~ l '~. ' . .;,,_r-·-=· ·' • ~ i