Ukiah council introduces ordinance to establish administrative use permits for small‑scale agriculture, events and animals

The Ukiah City Council on Aug. 20 introduced by title an ordinance to establish an administrative use permit (AUP) process that consolidates and reorganizes performance standards for smaller, neighborhood‑scale uses including backyard animals, community gardens, outdoor sales and certain live entertainment and dining exceptions.

Catherine Schaeffer, the city’s planning manager, told the council the change responds to frequent public inquiries about small‑scale agriculture and animal‑keeping uses. “If somebody currently in the city would like to have backyard chickens, immediately it gets kicked to something called a minor use permit, and that requires a public hearing,” Schaeffer said. The proposed ordinance would allow uses that meet performance standards to be permitted administratively without a public hearing and would create a faster administrative pathway for limited deviations from those standards.

Schaeffer said the ordinance centralizes scattered rules into a single Article 23 so community members can find performance standards for community gardens, animals within the city (hens, rabbits and beekeeping), sidewalk vendors, outdoor dining, outdoor sales and similar small uses in one place. She gave an example: the code currently allows six hens with a minor use permit, but someone seeking a seventh hen must proceed through a more extensive minor use permit process; the AUP would allow staff discretion to approve modest deviations without a public hearing.

The planning commission recommended that beekeeping receive performance standards and an administrative pathway; Schaeffer said the commission found the proposed standards adequate. Council members asked whether sidewalk vendors and pop‑up sales were permitted; staff said many pop‑ups require separate review and that the city is drafting a sidewalk‑vending ordinance to clarify state law and local requirements.

After public hearing and discussion, a council member moved to introduce the ordinance by title only; the motion passed on roll call. The ordinance title read into the record added a new section 9,269 and Article 23 to Division 9, Chapter 2 of the Ukiah City Code to establish procedures and performance standards for AUPs. Staff stressed that more intensive uses would still require existing minor use permit hearings.

The introduction signals the council’s intent to make small agricultural and neighborhood commercial activities less onerous while preserving findings and staff oversight for deviations. Staff will return with subsequent ordinances and technical edits as needed to finalize the consolidated Article 23 and associated performance standards.