Paradise may extend housing ordinance
The deadline has been controversial as many people are arguing that it is too soon to change requirements.
PARADISE » On Tuesday night Paradise Town Council will not only discuss the potential of a needle distribution ban, and the creation of an underground district, but it will also discuss adopting a new ordinance related to interimhousing and accessories buildings.
If the staff recommendation is accepted the current ordinance will be extended for six months to June 30, 2021, with the ability to extend individual cases until Dec. 31, 2021 if the resident shows they aremeeting the intent to rebuild.
Since July the Town Council has been discussing the issuance of temporary use permits that were issued under the authority of the urgency ordinance and in line with the existing temporary use regulations. That Interim Housing Urgency Ordinance is set to expire at the end of 2020. The intent of the amendment was to begin the transition of urgency ordinance standards to those of the regular zoning requirements.
The deadline has been controversial asmany people are arguing that it is too soon.
Because of the response, the town says its staff has beenmaking contact with residents who are currently occupying RVs on vacant properties within the town. Employees are seeking to find out their rebuild intentions and to better understand what obstacles rebuilding residents are facing, as well as to offer additional resources where possible.
The town says it has learned three things in that time about residents living in RVs on their property.
1. Residents are waiting for PG&E settlement payout to rebuild;
2. Residents needsmore time tomake a decision on rebuilding ( both financial! and non-financial related);
3. COVID related delays. That has led to the town to look at three options.
The first is to leave the code as-is, with the emergency ordinance ending on Dec. 31. That is when the code enforcement and abatement process for those residents who have failed to secure a residential rebuild permit, with or without temporary use permits, would start.
The town says in that scenario, it’s likely a majority of the permitted RVs in town will not be in compliance with the requirements to remain on their property after January 1, 2021 and will require abatement.
If the staff recommendation is accepted the current ordinance will be extended for six months to June 30, 2021, with the ability to extend individual cases until Dec. 31, 2021 if the resident shows they aremeeting the intent to rebuild.
The second option is to end the ordinance with alternative thresholds of compliance. The ordinance would still end on Dec. 31, but the town would allow thosewithan existing temporary use permit, who have not yet secured a residential rebuild permit, to show intent to rebuild, in order to stay on the property in an RV.
Those alternate ways would be:
• Building permit applied for, but not issued;
• Signed contract with a builder;
• A signed contract for a manufactured home;
• Working with Town housing specialists, or state agency, on housing programs;
• Signed contract with a plans designer.
According to the agenda, this scenario allows for additional time to move through the permitting or housing program process, but does not address the financial or COVID-19 related barriers that impact a majority of those living in RVs.
But it’s the third option that the staff recommends, which not only extends the ordinance but allows for the second option to be in play come June 30 for those extended individual cases until the end of 2021 if the resident shows they are meeting the intent to rebuild as listed in scenario #2, above.
According to the agenda “this option allows staff to work with eligible residents that are being identified through the Code Enforcement proactive street surveys and who are, and in most cases have been, living on their property in an RV without the required temporary use permit to get themtemporarily permitted while they also work on the steps to permanent housing. This would defer the requirement to have a building permit issued, or alternative threshold, as a requirement for temporary use permit issuance until June 30, 2021. This hybrid approach for extending the ordinance seeks to address the time and financing hurdles repeatedly referred to by residents in RVs.”