3B Public Hearing 2012 0416 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Attachment B: Excerpt of the Draft Minutes of the Planning Commission Meeting of March 15, 2012 Item 7A: Public Hearing Proposed amendments to Article 19 Landscape Requirements, Sections 4 -1904, 1908 and 1910 of the Zoning Code, related to Bay - Friendly Landscaping. (Barros) Planner Barros said that the proposed amendments to the Zoning Code Article 19 are relatively minor and. relate to a mandate from the Alameda County Waste Management Authority, StopWaste.org. Planner Barros indicated that two years ago, the City modified landscape requirements to comply with a State of California decree under AB 1881 for water- efficient landscaping. The San Leandro ordinance follows the State's WELO (Water Efficient Landscape Ordinance) model, which contains substantial data that is required of landscapers. The 2010 San Leandro ordinance also incorporated certain StopWaste.org, Bay- Friendly Landscaping protocols, but now further minor changes are needed to ensure that San Leandro continues to qualify for more than $100,000 in mitigation funds for the next fiscal year. Planner Barros referred to a letter in the Planning Commission packet from StopWaste.Org which outlined the current countywide mandate. Accordingly, she recommended adding two elements to San Leandro Zoning Code Article 19, Landscape Requirements: • Locate plants to grow to natural size — This is already in the code as recommended design feature; the proposal now is to make it a requirement. Divert 50% of landscape Construction & Demolition (C &D) debris — The City's current C &D Ordinance requires recycling of 50% of C &D debris for projects valued at $100,000 and up, but some projects below that amount may trigger the Bay - Friendly Landscaping provisions so it should be included in the Landscape Ordinance as well. The existing trigger in Article 19 is based on the size of the landscaping project: 2,500 square feet for commercial, industrial and developer - installed residential projects, or 5,000 square feet for other residential projects. hl response to a question from Commissioner Rennie, Planner Barros said that the size thresholds are based on State requirements. She pointed out that a project may be 2,500 square feet in size but under $100,000 in value, so to ensure satisfying the StopWaste.org mandate, the C &D debris diversion requirement should be included in Article 19. Planner Barros also indicated that the proposed changes are consistent with General Plan policies, including Policies 26.02 Mitigation of Development Impacts, 26.06 Intergovernmental Coordination, 27.02 Water Conservation and 27.03 Drought - Tolerant Landscaping. hl addition, she said, the General Plan's Conservation Element contains goals of working toward water and energy efficiency. Staff requests Planning Commission support of the recommended amendments so the proposal can go before the City Council on April 16, 2012. Commissioner Dlugosh, noting that the $100,000 amount in the C &D ordinance dates back to 2003, said that $100,000 may now be too low and at some time it may be appropriate to modify the valuation unless that's the amount mandated by State law. Planner Barros said landscaping ordinances and green building for civic projects contain escalation clauses that tie figures to construction cost indices and that is probably the case for the C &D ordinance as well. She said she would check. Chair Collier asked whether the trigger amount represents the total value of the whole project or the landscaping only. Planner Barros said that the current thresholds are not related to any