Santa Paula Planning Commission forwards inclusionary-housing updates and a holiday-light exception to City Council

The Santa Paula Planning Commission voted Oct. 28 to forward a package of development-code updates to the City Council, including revisions to the city’s inclusionary-housing rules and an amendment to the light-and-glare code that would permit temporary holiday lighting while prohibiting flashing or strobe patterns that create public-safety risks.

City staff said the items are part of Development Code Update No. 8, a multi-year effort to bring the municipal code into compliance with changing state law and to incorporate community feedback. Staff told the commission the draft change to subsection D of the lighting code would make an exception for "temporary lights used for holiday decorations" and asked commissioners whether to add an explicit time limit — examples discussed included 30, 60 or 90 days.

The distinction matters because subsection D currently bans flickering or flashing lights in residential and commercial zones, requiring lights to…