Planning Commission recommends city council adopt housing, zoning and Avenue of the Flags specific‑plan amendments

The Buellton City Planning Commission voted unanimously to recommend City Council approve three related amendments: a housing element text revision (Resolution No. 2,503), comprehensive zoning ordinance changes to implement adopted housing element programs and to make permanent a prior urgency ordinance on emergency shelters (Resolution No. 2,504), and amendments to the Avenue of the Flags Specific Plan to align it with the housing and zoning changes (Resolution No. 2,505).

Why it matters: The package implements updates required by state housing law and the city’s certified housing element, clarifies local rules for supportive and transitional housing, clarifies reasonable accommodation procedures for persons with disabilities, adjusts how agricultural/employee housing is regulated, and makes permanent a 2024 urgency ordinance that designates the industrial zone as the by‑right zone for emergency shelters.

Key elements: Staff summarized the major changes: supportive housing and transitional housing will be allowed by right (via zoning clearance) in zones permitting multifamily uses; supportive housing will be allowed as part of mixed‑use projects in commercial zones (with unit limits noted in the code amendments); low‑barrier navigation centers and emergency shelters are proposed to be allowed by right in certain mixed‑use and industrial zones; the City’s density‑bonus code will be simplified to reference state law; and reasonable accommodation rules will be moved into a consolidated section to align with current federal and state practice.

Staff emphasized the package was intended to implement nine housing element programs and a variety of state statutes (Assembly and Senate bills cited in the staff report). The zoning amendments also consolidate and clean up definition sections, remove references to defunct redevelopment law, and make minor clarifying changes to mixed‑use and manufactured‑home standards.

Public questions at the commission hearing focused on where emergency shelters and agricultural employee housing would actually be sited (staff said the city has not established a physical emergency shelter to date), on how the changes interact with density‑bonus law and SB‑35 projects, and on procedural timing for stormwater and zoning clearances. Commissioners asked staff to clarify that supportive‑housing requirements that call for mixed‑use components might be superseded by state provisions in cases where a project qualifies under state laws that do not allow local additional conditions; staff acknowledged that state law can preempt local code in some instances and suggested the code changes would be monitored alongside future comprehensive zoning updates.

Environmental review: Staff said the housing amendments are covered by the negative declaration prepared for the housing element, and the specific plan amendments are covered by the existing Avenue of the Flags MND; the housing element text amendment itself is categorically exempt under CEQA’s “general rule” because it updates internal background text and actions required by state law.

The commission’s recommendation packages included three discrete motions that were seconded and adopted unanimously. Staff will forward the three resolutions and recommended ordinance language to City Council for final action.