At the Town Council Meeting on 3/15/16, Council will consider adoption of a General Plan Amendment regarding C-3 Zoning Districts and introduction of a proposed Zoning Amendment regarding C-3 Zoning Districts
TOWN AGENCY: CORTE MADERA TOWN COUNCIL
MEETING DATE: TUESDAY MARCH 15, 2016
TIME AND PLACE: 7:30 P.M., CORTE MADERA TOWN HALL, 300 TAMALPAIS DRIVE
SUBJECT: PUBLIC HEARING TO CONSIDER ADOPTION OF A GENERAL PLAN AMENDMENT TO MAKE PROPERTIES WITHIN EXISTING C-3 ZONING DISTRICTS CONSISTENT WITH THEIR EXISTING GENERAL PLAN LAND USE DESIGNATION, AND A ZONING AMENDMENT TO REMOVE RESIDENTIAL USES AS A PERMITTED CONDITIONAL USE, IN C-3 ZONING DISTRICTS.
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the Corte Madera Town Council will hold a public hearing to consider applications by the Corte Madera Planning Department to amend the General Plan in order to make properties currently zoned C-3 consistent with their existing General Plan land use designation (Mixed-Use Commercial); and to amend the Corte Madera Zoning Ordinance to remove residential uses as a permitted conditional use in C-3 zoning districts.
In 2009, the Town of Corte Madera adopted a new General Plan that changed the land use designation for properties within the C-3 zoning district from “Region Serving Commercial” or “Commercial Services” to “Mixed-Use Commercial,” but failed to make the C-3 zoning district consistent with this new designation. This omission has inadvertently prevented all property owners located within existing C-3 zoning districts from making applications for design review, changes of uses, signs, or any other development permits allowed by the C-3 district regulations given the lack of consistency between the Zoning Ordinance and General Plan. The proposed General Plan amendment would resolve this issue by adding the C-3 zoning district as an “applicable zoning district” within the Mixed-Use Commercial land use designation on Page 2-21 of the General Plan. Currently, the Planning Department is aware of three property owners who wish to proceed with applications pursuant to the existing C-3 zoning district regulations, but are currently prevented from doing so.
At the same time, the Planning Department seeks to remove a conditional use currently permitted in the C-3 zoning district for “residential units in locations and at densities determined by the Planning Commission to conform to the General Plan,” because it allows applications for residential development that would be inconsistent with processes described in the implementation programs of the General Plan.
On February 23, 2016, the Corte Madera Planning Commission, at a duly-noticed public hearing, recommended that the Corte Madera Town Council approve the proposed General Plan and Zoning Ordinance amendments.
The Planning Department recommends that these actions are exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15061(b)(3) since it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that the activity in question may have a significant effect on the environment.
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All persons interested in the foregoing are invited to appear before the Corte Madera Planning Commission at the time, day and place mentioned above. If you challenge this project in court, you may be limited to raising only those issues you or someone else raised at the public hearing described in this NOTICE, or in written correspondence delivered to the Town of Corte Madera at, or prior to, the public hearing. All written responses will become part of the public record. Staff reports are usually available by 4:30 p.m. on the Friday
before the meeting and may be obtained from the Planning Department, Corte Madera Town Hall, 300 Tamalpais Drive, Corte Madera. If you have any questions about the information contained in this notice, please contact the Planning Department at (415) 927-5064.
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I do hereby certify that the foregoing Notice of Public Hearing was duly processed according to the California Government Code and the Corte Madera Municipal Code.
Adam Wolff, Planning Director
In compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, if you need special assistance to participate in this meeting, please contact the Planning Division at 415-927-5064. Notification two business days (the Friday before the meeting) prior to the meeting will enable the Town to make reasonable arrangements to ensure accessibility to this meeting.
Sent on or before March 4, 2016
