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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC Res 7707 2025-10-27 RESOLUTION 7707 A RESOLUTION OF THE SEAL BEACH CITY COUNCIL FINDING THE GENERAL PLAN 2021-2029 HOUSING ELEMENT (6TH CYCLE) UPDATE CONSISTENT WITH THE PURPOSES OF THE STATE AERONAUTICS ACT AND OVERRULING THE ORANGE COUNTY AIRPORT LAND USE COMMISSION'S DETERMINATION THAT THE 2021-2029 HOUSING ELEMENT UPDATE IS INCONSISTENT WITH THE 2017 JOINT FORCES TRAINING BASE LOS ALAMITOS AIRPORT ENVIRONS LAND USE PLAN WHEREAS, Section 200 of the City of Seal Beach ("City") Charter vests the City Council with authority to make and enforce all laws, rules and regulations with respect to municipal affairs, subject only to the restrictions and limitations contained in this Charter and in the Constitution of the State of California. It shall also have the power to exercise any and all rights, powers and privileges heretofore or hereafter established, granted, or prescribed by any law of the State, by this Charter, or the State of California. The enumeration in this Charter of any particular power, duty, or procedure shall not be held to be exclusive of, or any limitation or restriction upon, this general grant of power; and, WHEREAS, Government Code Section 65580 et seq. (Housing Element Law) requires that every city prepare and periodically update the housing element of the general plan; every city is mandated to include statutory requirements in the housing element, and every city is required to submit a draft of its housing element to the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) for review and comment as to whether the City's draft 2021-2029 Housing Element (Project) substantially complies with Housing Element Law; and, WHEREAS, the City worked with the community, Planning Commission, City Council, and its consultants to prepare the Project as required by the Housing Element Law); and, WHEREAS, the 6th Cycle Regional Housing Needs Assessment ("RHNA") allocation imposed on the City by the Southern California Association of Governments ("SCAG"), of 1,243 units, is a substantial increase in the number of affordable housing opportunities required in comparison to the 5th Cycle RHNA allocation of only two units, and as a result required the City to identify all available sites Citywide as potential housing opportunities, including some in proximity to the Joint Forces Training Base Los Alamitos (JFTB), which is subject to the 2017 Joint Training Base Los Alamitos Airport Environs Land Use Plan ("AELUP") of the Orange County Airport Land Use Commission ("ALUC"); and, WHEREAS, in accordance with Public Utilities Code Section 21676(b), the City referred the Project to the ALUC for advisory review for its consistency with the AELUP; and, WHEREAS, on August 7, 2025, the ALUC by unanimous (5-0) vote, determined that the Project is inconsistent with the AELUP due to noise, safety, and general land use compatibility of potential housing opportunity sites identified in the Housing Element; and, 1 WHEREAS, as the final review authority pursuant to Public Utilities Code Sections 21670 and 21676, the City Council may, after a public hearing, overrule the ALUC by a two- thirds vote, if it makes specific findings that the Project is consistent with the purposes of Public Utilities Code Section 21670 regarding the protection of the public health, safety, and welfare by ensuring the orderly expansion of airports and the adoption of land use measures that minimize the public's exposure to excessive noise and safety hazards within areas around public airports to the extent that these areas are not already devoted to incompatible uses; and, WHEREAS, prior to taking action on a proposal to overrule the ALUC inconsistency finding, the City must provide the ALUC and the Division of Aeronautics of the California Department of Transportation (the "State Division of Aeronautics") with notice of the City's intent to consider overruling the ALUC determination along with specific findings at least 45 days prior to the City's action to overrule the ALUC; and, WHEREAS, the Public Utilities Code provides that the ALUC and the State Division of Aeronautics shall respond to the notification of the findings of proposed override within 30 days of receiving the proposed resolution and findings; and, WHEREAS, in the event the ALUC or State Division of Aeronautics' comments are not available within this timeframe, the City may act without them; and, WHEREAS, any comments by the ALUC and State Division of Aeronautics are advisory to the City under state law; and the City Council shall include any comments from the ALUC and the State Division of Aeronautics in the final record of any final decision by the City Council to overrule the ALUC, which may only be adopted by a two-thirds vote of the City Council; and, WHEREAS, the City Council held a duly-noticed public hearing on September 8, 2025, in the City Council Chambers located at 211 Eighth Street, Seal Beach, California, at which time evidence, both written and oral, was presented to, and considered by, the City Council at this hearing; and the City Council adopted Resolution 7691 by unanimous vote of 5-0, to notify the ALUC and the State Division of Aeronautics of the City's intent to overrule ALUC's inconsistency finding; and, WHEREAS, on September 10, 2025, the City sent a copy of Resolution 7691 via email and United States Postal Service to the ALUC and the State Division of Aeronautics; and, WHEREAS, the City received comments in response to Resolution 7691 from the State Division of Aeronautics and the ALUC; and those comments are hereby incorporated by reference and the facts in support of the findings provided in Section 1 of this resolution adequately address both comment letters; and, WHEREAS, the documents and other materials constituting the record for these proceedings are located at the Community Development Department of the City of Seal Beach, 211 Eighth Street, Seal Beach, CA 90740; and, 2 WHEREAS, on October 27, 2025, a public hearing was held by the City Council. A notice of time, place, and purpose of the hearing was given in accordance with CPUC Section 21676(b) and the Ralph M. Brown Act, at which time evidence, both written and oral, was presented to, and considered by, the City Council at this hearing. NOW, THEREFORE, the Seal Beach City Council does resolve, declare, determine, and order as follows: Section 1. The foregoing recitals are true and correct and are incorporated herein by this reference. Section 2. The City Council finds that the General Plan 2021-2029 Housing Element (6th Cycle) Update ("Project") is consistent with the purposes of California Public Utilities Code Section 21670 and the AELUP of protecting the public health, safety, and welfare by ensuring the orderly expansion of airports and the adoption of land use measures that minimize the public's exposure to excessive noise and safety hazards within areas around public airports to the extent that these areas are not already devoted to incompatible uses. Facts in Support 1. The Project is consistent with the noise standards of the AELUP. The AELUP guides the orderly development of Joint Forces Training Base (JFTB) and the surrounding area through implementation of the standards in AELUP Section 2 (Planning Guidelines) and Section 3 (Land Use Policies). Implementation of these standards is intended to protect the public from the adverse effects of aircraft noise, ensure that people and facilities are not concentrated in areas susceptible to aircraft accidents, and ensure no structures or activities adversely affect navigable airspace. AELUP Section 2.1.1 sets forth the Community Noise Equivalent Level (CNEL) standards. The Project includes the identification of 2 opportunity sites within the 60 dB CNEL contour for JFTB. No sites are within the 65 dB CNEL. Sections 3.2.2 and 3.2.4, respectively, of the AELUP define the noise exposure in the 60- 65 dB CNEL noise contour (Noise Impact Zone 2) as "Moderate Noise Impact" and in the 65-70 dB CNEL noise contour (Noise Impact Zone 1) as "High Impact". Section 3, Table 1 (Limitations on Land Use Due to Noise) of the AELUP identifies residential as "conditionally consistent"with the 60-65 dB CNEL noise contour. Residential uses are not outright prohibited in either Noise Impact Zone 1 or 2. AELUP Section 3.2.4 requires residential uses to be developed with advanced insulation systems to bring the sound after attenuation to no more than 45 dB inside. The City's General Plan Noise Element currently requires also requires interior sound attenuation of 45dB. 2. The proposed Project is consistent with the safety standards of the AELUP. AELUP Section 2.1.2 (Safety) sets forth zones depicting which land uses are acceptable in the JFTB environs, and states that only an Accident Potential Zone (APZ) "A" located 3 within the boundaries of JFTB was justified. Further, there are not APZs identified beyond the Clear Zones for JFTB, therefore APZ "A" is designated as a Clear Zone. No opportunity sites are located within the Clear Zone. 3. The proposed Project is consistent with the purpose and intent of the AELUP and will not result in incompatible land uses adjacent to JFTB. The standards and policies set forth in Sections 2 (Planning Guidelines) and 3 (Land Use Policies) of the AELUP were adopted to prevent the creation of new noise and safety problems. As set forth above, any development on the proposed housing opportunity sites will comply with the noise criteria and safety standards established in Sections 2 and 3. Much of the area surrounding the housing opportunity sites within the AELUP planning area is already developed with residential development, and the housing opportunity sites would constitute infill development in and around those existing uses. The previously developed residential areas include thousands of housing units located in the neighborhoods of College Park East, Leisure World, Rossmoor, and neighborhoods north of the Old Ranch Town Center in both Seal Beach and Los Alamitos. Consistent with the AELUP, any infill projects must comply with all applicable specific policies, and the housing opportunity sites do not violate the AELUP height restrictions, are consistent with the noise and safety policies, and are not within any identified APZs or CZs. Further, the Project does not constitute approval or commitment to development, but identifies potential future sites for housing, and compliance with the AELUP standards will be evaluated and demonstrated if and when development projects are proposed in the future following the subsequent comprehensive update of the General Plan. Section 3. Based on the foregoing findings, the City Council finds that the Project is consistent with the noise standards, safety standards, and purposes and intent of the AELUP; and hereby overrules the ALUC's determination that the Project is inconsistent with the AELUP. Section 4. The City Council finds the adoption of this resolution is not subject to the California Environmental Quality Act ("CEQA") pursuant to Sections 15060(c)(2) (the activity will not result in a direct or reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment) and 15060(c)(3) (the activity is not a project as defined in Section 15378) of the CEQA Guidelines, California Code of Regulations, Title 14, Division 6, Chapter 3, because it has no potential for resulting in physical change to the environment, directly or indirectly. Specifically, the resolution does not have the potential for resulting in either a direct physical change in the environment, or a reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment because it is limited to the City's proposal to overrule the ALUC's determination and does not commit the City to approve the Project. The Project will be independently reviewed and evaluated pursuant to CEQA. Section 5. If any section, subsection, sentence, clause or phrase of this resolution is, for any reason, held to be invalid or unconstitutional, 4 such decision shall not affect the validity or constitutionality of the remaining portions of this resolution. The City Council hereby declares that it would have passed this resolution, and each section, subsection, sentence, clause or phrase hereof, irrespective of the fact that any one or more sections, subsections, sentences, clauses or phrases be declared invalid or unconstitutional. Section 6. This resolution shall take effect immediately upon its adoption. Section 7. The City Clerk shall certify to the passage and adoption of this Resolution and enter it into the book of original Resolutions. PASSED, APPROVED AND ADOPTED by the Seal Beach City Council at a regular meeting held on the 27th day of October, 2025 by the following vote: AYES: Council Members: Kalmick, Wong, Senecal, Steele, Landau NOES: Council Members: ABSENT: Council Members: ABSTAIN: Council Members: Lisa Lan au, Ma or V �N�RPp'''� ATTEST: 7*7 ,94, 0 loria D. Harp r, City Clerk C'0'9,1 1915:' Q� I/NTY C a� `-/ STATE OF CALIFORNIA } COUNTY OF ORANGE } SS CITY OF SEAL BEACH } I, Gloria D. Harper, City Clerk of the City of Seal Beach, do hereby certify that the foregoing resolution is the original copy of Resolution 7707 on file in the office of the City Clerk, passed, approved, and adopted by the City Council at a meeting held on the 27th day of October 2025. 5 lG oria D. Ha r, City Clerk 6