Planning Commission Consideration of:

1. Making a formal Recommendation to the City Council Regarding Ordinance No. 2023-006, which would amend the Carmel Municipal Code (CMC) Title 17 (Zoning) by repealing and replacing chapter 17.46 (Telecommunications and Wireless Facilities) and making conforming amendments to Zoning Code sections 17.08.040, 17.12.020, 17.14.030, 17.14.220, 17.18.030, 17.40.070, 17.52.150, 17.54.010, 17.54.040, 17.54.080, 17.58.030, 17.58.040, 17.68.070, 17.70.010 and 17.70.020 and to municipal code sections 12.08.050, 12.08.060, 13.28.070; and finding the same exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act and in full conformance with the City’s Local Coastal Program and the California Coastal Act; and
   
   
2. All six (6) of the administrative regulatory documents which are a companion to the wireless ordinance which include: “Application for Wireless Facility Form”; “Wireless Facility Application Checklist - Type I-IV”; “Wireless Facility Application Checklist - Type V Eligible Facilities Request”; “Administrative Detailed Wireless Facility Design Guidelines”; and “Wireless Facility Standard Conditions of Approval”. 

The City of Carmel-by-the-Sea is in the process of updating regulations pertaining to wireless (e.g.: cell phone) telecommunication facilities.  In March, 2023, the Planning Commission held a public workshop on a first-draft ordinance package.  Several comments were received from the public and Commission as part of that workshop.  Since that time, staff has been working with outside legal counsel to prepare a second-draft ordinance package in response to feedback received as part of the workshop. 

The Planning Commission is now being asked to consider making a formal recommendation to City Council regarding adoption of this second-draft ordinance.  This recommendation will be provided to Council at the first and second reading of the ordinance for adoption.  In addition to the draft ordinance, the Commission is also being asked to consider the six (6) companion regulatory documents such as an Application Checklist, which can be approved solely by the Planning Commission.       

It is recommended that the Planning Commission:

1. Approve a resolution making a formal Recommendation to the City Council to adopt Ordinance No. 2023-006, which would amend the Carmel Municipal Code (CMC) Title 17 (Zoning) by repealing and replacing chapter 17.46 (Telecommunications and Wireless Facilities) and making conforming amendments to Zoning Code sections 17.08.040, 17.12.020, 17.14.030, 17.14.220, 17.18.030, 17.40.070, 17.52.150, 17.54.010, 17.54.040, 17.54.080, 17.58.030, 17.58.040, 17.68.070, 17.70.010 and 17.70.020 and to municipal code sections 12.08.050, 12.08.060, 13.28.070; and finding the same exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act and in full conformance with the City’s Local Coastal Program and the California Coastal Act; and
   
   
2. Approve all six (6) of the administrative regulatory documents which are a companion to the wireless ordinance which include: “Application for Wireless Facility Form”; “Wireless Facility Application Checklist - Type I-IV”; “Wireless Facility Application Checklist - Type V Eligible Facilities Request”; “Administrative Detailed Wireless Facility Design Guidelines”; and “Wireless Facility Standard Conditions of Approval”.    

At the Direction of City Council, the Community Planning and Building Department, with support from the City Attorney and special outside Wireless Counsel, has been drafting updates to the City’s wireless facility regulations. From the outset, the policy direction from City Council was to draft the strongest wireless ordinance possible to protect the special and unique characteristics of Carmel-by-the-Sea.

At their March 29th, 2023 Special Workshop, the Commission was presented with a first-draft wireless ordinance package consisting of an ordinance amending the Carmel Municipal Code, Application Checklists, Design Guidelines, Standard Conditions of Approval, and an Application Form.  These documents had been released to the public and Commission for review and comments approximately one month prior to the workshop.  At the workshop, staff received specific comments from the Commission in addition to those received from the public over the preceding month.

Since the March workshop, staff has been working with the City’s outside legal counsel, Gail Karish of the firm BBK, LLP, to prepare a second-draft version of the wireless ordinance package.  This second draft package was released for review by the public and Planning Commission on August 5th, 2023 along with a “Reader’s Guide” (Attachment 2).  The second draft seeks to address substantive comments received from both the public and the Planning Commission on the first-draft ordinance package.  These comments were collected, and placed into a matrix (Attachment 3), along with an explanation of how they were addressed in the second-draft.  Many of the comments received were addressed through edits to one or more of the documents in the first-draft ordinance package.  Some comments, however, were not incorporated for various reasons.  The attached matrix also includes a brief explanation of how and why comments were addressed in the second-draft ordinance package.

In addition to the comments matrix, staff has also prepared “redline” versions (Attachments 4b, 5b, 6b, 7b, 8b, 9b) of each document in the ordinance package to assist with understanding edits that have been made since the first-draft. These redlines show every change, regardless of how small. Text that is underlined represents an addition, and text with a strikethrough represents a deletion.  “Clean” versions of each document in the package have also been included (Attachments 4a, 5a, 6a, 7a, 8a, 9a), which are exactly the same as the “redline” versions, but with the changes accepted.

The changes presented in the redline versions, along with the comment matrix, are meant to present a complete picture of the approach taken by staff to address comments received in March.  Staff will be prepared at the hearing to provide any needed clarification and answer questions.  This package was released to the public and Commission on August 5th, 2023, along with a “Reader’s Guide” explaining all of the various components listed above.

Some of the documents in the wireless ordinance package require a formal recommendation by the Planning Commission and adoption by the City Council, while some only require approval by the Planning Commission.  This section explains the different approval paths for both types of documents. 

• Ordinance - For all ordinances amending the City’s Zoning Code (Title 17), the Planning Commission must adopt a resolution which provides a formal recommendation to the City Council regarding adoption of the subject ordinance.  This recommendation may be for adoption of the ordinance as presented to the Commission, which is how the attached resolution has been drafted.  The Commission’s recommendation may also be for adoption, but with specific modifications to the ordinance that should be incorporated into the ordinance as part of Council’s first reading.  The Commission also has the option, if they feel that the ordinance is substantially deficient, to continue the matter to a later date with specific direction to staff regarding how the substantial deficiencies should be addressed.  Following adoption at a first and second reading by Council, the ordinance must be considered and approved by the California Coastal Commission prior to becoming effective. 
  
  
• All Other Regulatory Documents – The remainder of the regulatory documents in the wireless ordinance package (Application Checklist, Design Guidelines, etc.) require only Planning Commission approval at a public hearing to become effective.  Review and approval by City Council or the Coastal Commission is not needed for these documents to become effective or to be amended in the future.  In other words, the formal ordinance and the companion regulatory documents are not tied to the same approval process.  Therefore, the Commission may choose to approve these companion documents as presented at this hearing, or continue them to a future date for modifications while still moving the ordinance along to City Council with a formal recommendation.  As discussed at the March workshop, the major benefit of these companion regulatory documents requiring only Planning Commission approval, is the efficiency with which they can be amended in the future if needed.  For example, if new State or Federal laws take effect that create a gap in the Application Checklist, the document can be amended in one to two months since only Planning Commission approval would be required.  If amendments needed to be made within the ordinance (Title 17), this would require a formal recommendation by the Planning Commission, two readings by the City Council, and approval by the Coastal Commission, which would take approximately one-year.