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Council approves introduction of development‑code cleanup to comply with state housing rules
Summary
Council introduced Ordinance No. 2525 to clean up the city's development code and to implement state-required changes for multifamily lot sizes, ADUs and other clarifications. A 5–0 roll call followed an amended motion to allow council call‑ups and to permit larger notice radii on appeals.
The City Council voted 5–0 on Feb. 18 to introduce Ordinance No. 2525, a package of cleanup amendments to Chapter 26 of the West Covina Municipal Code intended to bring the city’s development code into compliance with recent state housing laws and to fix technical errors found after last year’s code update.
Deputy Community Development Director Joanne Burns and consultant Sean Moreland summarized the changes: the update standardizes minimum lot‑size requirements for multifamily development to meet a state directive that local codes not require more than a 20,000‑square‑foot minimum for certain multifamily projects; establishes by‑right approvals for developments that dedicate at least 20 percent of units to lower‑income households; consolidates multifamily parking standards; and incorporates several state law changes affecting accessory dwelling units (ADUs) and subdivisions (parcel maps and urban lot splits).
The staff report also listed clarifying edits: adding quantified standards for recreational‑vehicle parking, language about solar glare, renumbering and minor text corrections, and a proposed stepping/massing rule for hillside lots. Burns noted that the Planning Commission had recommended most but not all changes and that the commission had asked for separate consideration of the hillside‑massing rules.
During debate Councilmembers asked for and won an amendment allowing two councilmembers to “call up” a Planning Commission decision (to trigger a council‑level de novo review) and for a flexible notice radius: the regular notice radius remains 500 feet, but the Council may order a larger radius (1,000 feet or more) in call‑up situations. The Council introduced the ordinance as amended and directed staff to prepare the ordinance for adoption, including the revised notice language.
The measure was introduced on a 5–0 roll call (Cantos, Diaz, Gutierrez, Lopez Villado, Wu). Staff said the codecleanup responds to both state housing requirements and several technical fixes identified since the 2024 code update.
