Davis's Planning Commission voted Oct. 28 to recommend that the City Council adopt an ordinance writing the state's SB 9 into city zoning. Three of the seven commissioners were absent and the alternate voted. The commission attached two points for staff and the council to examine. One is the proposed ban on short-term rentals, which would bar renting any unit on a two-unit parcel, including the original house, for less than 30 days; a commissioner questioned whether that was fair when other Davis homes have no such limit, then noted after checking that SB 9 itself includes the requirement. The other is how many lots the exclusion of FEMA 100-year flood zones would rule out; staff said they would estimate that from FEMA maps, while cautioning that those maps aren't necessarily current. The council's long-range calendar tentatively lists its hearing for Dec. 15.
SB 9, a 2021 state law, requires cities to approve, without a public hearing or discretionary review, up to two primary homes on a lot in a single-family zone, a split of such a lot into two, or both. Cities may apply only objective standards, such as setbacks and building heights, and must waive any that would prevent two units of at least 800 square feet each. Side and rear setbacks can be no more than 4 feet. Davis's ordinance would put these rules into the city's zoning code; related changes to the subdivision code will go to the council with it.
Not every lot qualifies. Exclusions include historic landmarks and districts, parcels under a conservation easement, protected habitat, and 100-year flood zones unless federal flood requirements are met. Projects also can't demolish or alter income-restricted or rent-controlled housing, housing withdrawn from the rental market under the Ellis Act in the past 15 years, or housing a tenant has occupied in the past three years. A lot can be split only once under the law.
Some choices are the city's. The proposed ordinance would let SB 9 projects cover up to 50% of a lot, rather than the 40% the current standards allow, to accommodate the added density, but only to the extent the limit doesn't prevent two primary homes of 800 square feet each. It would also let the city deny a two-unit project if the building official finds in writing, based on a preponderance of the evidence, that it would have a "specific, adverse impact" on public health and safety or the physical environment that can't feasibly be mitigated or avoided. State law lets the city cap a split lot at two units on each half, four in all, rather than allowing more accessory dwelling units. Staff did not recommend going above four, saying they had not analyzed it and that the city's utility infrastructure may not handle the load; the commission's recommendation keeps the four-unit limit.
Staff said they don't expect many applications. Lots suited to SB 9 projects tend to be larger, and often corner lots, while Davis's single-family lots tend to be small and mostly built out, staff said. The city has had a few inquiries but, lacking local rules, has pointed people to accessory dwelling units, which staff said can produce similar density on a lot.
The ordinance would add two-unit projects as a permitted use in the R-1, R-2, R-2-CD, R-R and R-2-MH zones. It would also make changes that state law does not require: removing language that says the R-1 zone is meant “to stabilize and protect the residential characteristics of the district” and is intended for single-family housing, with similar changes to other zones' purpose statements, and dropping agriculture as a permitted use in the R-1 and R-2 zones. Staff said the new purpose language better fits the uses SB 9 allows.