Council agrees to study temporary alternatives to planning commission process and to return with options on food-truck regulation

Council members on Feb. 25 asked staff to research options to streamline planning review while the city undertakes a major rewrite of the Willows Municipal Code (Title 18). One option discussed was a temporary suspension of the planning commission for up to a year to reduce duplication of hearings and to centralize decision-making at the council while code revisions are prepared. Council asked staff to return with pros and cons and legal requirements at the March 25 or early-April meeting.

Separately, councilors discussed whether to impose a temporary moratorium on new food-truck operations while the code is updated. Several council members supported returning a draft moratorium ordinance for council consideration; one member opposed a moratorium in nearly all businesses (except licensed cannabis dispensaries). Staff advised that a formal moratorium would require a city ordinance and said the city attorney would need to review the draft; staff suggested March 25 as the earliest meeting to consider a moratorium ordinance.

Council members said the broader municipal-code rewrite should prioritize clarifying what the city intends to regulate and what it can realistically enforce with current staff levels. The proposed code rewrite is part of a larger Title 18 update; council members noted recurring turnover and limited training among current planning commissioners and suggested pausing to avoid onboarding commissioners to code provisions that are about to change.

Staff will return with a report on the legal and operational implications of temporarily suspending the planning commission and with an initial draft moratorium ordinance on food trucks for council discussion.