Planning commission recommends City Council consider military overlay zone and dark-skies ordinance
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Summary
The planning commission voted 4-0 to forward to the City Council updates to the general plan and municipal code that would create a military influence overlay zone, add a dark-skies ordinance, and add environmental-justice policies; the recommendation goes to City Council for first reading March 18.
The Planning Commission voted 4-0 to recommend the City Council consider updates to the general plan, municipal code and zoning map that would create a military influence overlay zone and adopt a dark-skies ordinance.
Consultant David told the commission the package would update the military sustainability and land-use elements to reflect revised flight patterns and noise contours and would add three policies: establishment of a military influence overlay zone, adoption of a dark-skies ordinance and measures to discourage sensitive receptors inside the new noise contours. “This request is to update the military sustainability element and the land use elements of the general plan,” David said. He also said the overlay would be implemented on the zoning map.
David said the proposed overlay would not replace base zoning but would raise the level of review for certain uses. “The base zoning would still remain in place,” he said, and added that some uses in safety zones—high-occupancy venues such as concert halls and movie theaters—would be removed from allowable uses while noise-sensitive uses such as daycares and senior living would be prohibited in parts of the overlay. Other potentially impactful uses would be subject to conditional use permits so the city could analyze and, if necessary, deny or require mitigation.
On lighting, David described the proposed dark-skies ordinance as limiting nighttime light and glare and said it is based on Kern County’s ordinance with modest edits to reference the city’s code; the dark-skies rules would apply primarily to new development rather than existing porch lights. “This ordinance would limit the nighttime light and glare,” he said.
David also told the commission the project triggers the city’s environmental-justice requirements under what he described as “SP 1,000” because it updates two general-plan elements; his team identified 8 of the city’s 22 census block groups as meeting technical criteria for disadvantaged communities and recommended five new land-use policies to reduce exposure, including support for lead-paint remediation, setbacks and ventilation for new housing, routing truck routes away from residences, electrical hookups at industrial loading docks to reduce idling, and prohibiting new wastewater facilities that could threaten groundwater.
Commissioners asked about the review timeline with the Navy. One commissioner said a previous proposal by a hotel chain had been rejected by the base, and another asked who has final authority if base review is slow. David replied that the code does not include enforceable timelines on military review because the city cannot compel the military’s schedule, but he said the city remains the final approval authority for local permits: “Ultimately, the city would be the final approval authority.” A commissioner with eight years’ experience working with Navy reviews said they had not observed persistent Navy delays.
Planning staff noted two emailed public comments were received for the record (from Carol Vaughn and Christian Schultz) and that there were no callers or in-person public commenters. After discussion the commission voted to forward the recommendation to City Council.
The matter will be scheduled for first reading at the City Council meeting on March 18, followed by a subsequent Council meeting for final action. The commission’s recommendation does not itself change city code; it is a recommendation for City Council consideration.
