Planning Commission unanimously backs omnibus municipal code updates, recommends council adopt ordinance

The West Sacramento Planning Commission on Feb. 19 conducted a public hearing and voted unanimously to recommend City Council adopt an ordinance containing 14 omnibus amendments to Titles 8 (Health & Safety), 17 (Zoning) and 18 (Floodplain Management) of the municipal code.

Senior planner Daniel Baroon told the commission the package is routine maintenance to ensure legal compliance and improve administrative clarity. “These amendments are not site specific, do not change zoning designations, and do not modify the general plan,” Baroon said, arguing the updates would improve transparency and reduce legal risk. He also described a tentative correction filed in a desk memo to the ordinance recital date.

Why it matters: The bundle codifies state requirements and streamlines local processes. Key changes include allowing low-barrier navigation centers as a permitted use in mixed-use and commercial zones to align with AB 101 and housing element requirements; codifying AB 2097’s limits on parking minimums near transit; replacing bed-based emergency-shelter parking standards with housing-type standards; clarifying temporary sign area calculations and removal responsibilities; establishing a one-year expiration for incomplete applications with a 60-day notice before withdrawal; expanding public notice to include site addresses so occupants and renters receive notice; and removing outdated manufactured-home language in the floodplain code to align with FEMA Community Rating System and National Flood Insurance Program standards.

Baroon recommended the commission find the project exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) under the administrative exemptions cited in the staff report and adopt Resolution 26-1 PC recommending that City Council adopt Ordinance 206-1 amending Titles 8, 17 and 18.

A commissioner requested that the desk-memo amendment language and the corrected recital date be read into the record before a motion. Staff read the relevant table addition to section 17.0902 and confirmed the recital date change to Feb. 19. Following that, a motion was made and seconded to accept staff’s recommendation with the read corrections. Commissioners Jackson, Olivares, Delgado and Wong voted in favor on a roll call; the motion passed unanimously.

The commission took no public comment and had no substantive questions for staff at the hearing. The action forwards the ordinance recommendation to City Council for final consideration.