ITEM:

PUBLIC HEARINGS

 

13.

CONSIDER FIRST READING OF ORDINANCE NO. 128, AN ORDINANCE OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE MONTEREY PENINSULA WATER MANAGEMENT DISTRICT CLARIFYING TERMS, RULES AND POLICIES RELATED TO WATER DISTRIBUTION SYSTEMS, WATER PERMITS, WATER USE PERMITS, WATER CREDITS, AFFORDABLE HOUSING, FEES AND THE EXPANDED WATER CONSERVATION AND STANDBY RATIONING PLAN

 

Meeting Date:
May 21, 2007

Budgeted: 

N/A

 

From:

David A. Berger,

Program/

N/A

 

General Manager

Line Item No.:

 

 

 

Prepared By:

Stephanie Pintar

Cost Estimate:

N/A

 

General Counsel Review:  Yes

Committee Recommendation:  The Water Demand Committee recommended Board consideration of the ordinance at its May 9, 2007 meeting.  The Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) unanimously supported the draft ordinance at its May 1, 2007 meeting.

CEQA Compliance:  This ordinance is not a project under CEQA (Guideline 15378 and Guideline 15060).

 

SUMMARY:  Draft Ordinance No. 128 (Exhibit 13-A) makes amendments to the permit and fee regulations of the District that were not made during adoption of Ordinance No. 125 in September 2006.  Ordinance No. 125 updated permit and water credit-related rules to conform to adopted policies and administrative practices.  Edits related to affordable housing connection charge exemptions were removed from Ordinance No. 125, and edits to the Water Use Permit process were planned, but not included.  In keeping with the previous ordinance, revisions to the affordable housing fee exemption process have been proposed in Ordinance No. 128 to make the rule easier for staff and the public to understand.  Definitions related to affordable housing have also been refined to reflect the County’s housing standards. 

 

To clarify the Water Use Permit process (related to Entitlements in the Del Monte Forest), staff worked with the Pebble Beach Company to separate the Water Use Permit process from Rule 23.5.  These modifications are added to Rule 21 and a new Rule 23.1. 

 

The draft ordinance was reviewed by both the Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) and the Water Demand Committee prior to first reading and their recommended language refinements are reflected in Exhibit 13-A. 

 

The proposed ordinance is summarized below:

 

1.      New, amended, and deleted definitions for Rule 11:

 

a.       New:  APN, Assessor’s Parcel Number, Assignment Document, Confirmation of Exemption, Moderate Income Housing, Water Use Permit

 

b.      Amended:  Affordable Housing, Existing Structure, Flagrant Violation, Low-Income Household, Low-Income Housing, Moderate Income Household, 

 

c.       Deleted:   Very-Low Income Household

2.      Rule 20, Permits Required, is amended to reflect the requirement for a deed restriction and payment of fees prior to Creating/Establishing a Water Distribution System.

 

3.      Rule 20 is amended to exempt Parcels served by a Water Distribution System not regulated by the District from the District’s Water Permit requirements.

 

4.      Rule 21, Applications, is amended to provide an exemption to the requirement for a Water Release Form when the final Water Permit is amended after a final inspection to reflect fewer water fixtures than shown on the Water Permit.

 

5.      Rule 21-E is amended to clarify the Water Use Permit Application (for properties eligible to obtain a portion of the Pebble Beach Company’s Water Entitlement).  Water Use Permit applications were previously considered only in Rule 23.5.  Rule 23.5 was adopted by Ordinance No. 39 (2/13/1989) and amended by Ordinance No. 71 (12/20/1993) and Ordinance No. 109 (5/27/2004).

 

6.      Rule 22, Action on Application for Permit to Create/Establish a Water Distribution System, is amended to reflect the requirement for recordation of a deed restriction(s) prior to final action and to make grammatical edits.

 

7.      Rule 22, Action on Application for Permit to Create/Establish a Water Distribution System, is amended to require payment of fees to the District and/or its agents prior to finalizing a Permit.

 

8.      Rule 23, Action on Application for a Water Permit to Connect To or Modify an Existing Water Distribution System, is clarified to specify that a signed Water Release Form is not required to amend a Water Permit after a final inspection when the Water Permit reflects less fixture units or a lower Water Use Capacity than the original Water Permit.

 

  1. Rule 23.1, Action on Application for a Water Use Permit on a Benefited Property, is added to codify the procedure originally contemplated in Rule 23.5 for processing and issuing Water Use Permits to properties receiving a share of the Pebble Beach Company Water Entitlement (Ordinance No. 109, 5/27/2004).  The Water Use Permit procedure was developed in cooperation and in coordination with the Pebble Beach Company.

 

10.  Rule 24.5, Connections for Affordable Housing, is amended and clarified to eliminate redundancy, streamline the language, and to add conditions of approval.  References to “very low income” housing and households are eliminated, as these terms are covered under the “Low Income Housing” definition.  Amendments to the definitions of Affordable Housing reflect the County-wide standard for determining affordable housing projects and were reviewed and accepted by the District’s Technical Advisory Committee (TAC).

 

  1. Rule 25.5 is amended to clarify that Water Use Credits are not available for removal of Residential landscaping.

 

  1. Rule 25.5 is also amended to clarify that Water Use Credits from the permanent abandonment of specifically identified, quantified, and permitted Non-Residential Landscaping are calculated using the Estimated Applied Water calculation (the average estimated reasonable water needs after Landscaping establishment).

 

  1. Rule 60, Fees and Charges, is amended to reflect the various categories of fees currently shown on the Fees and Charges Table.

 

  1. Rule 60-D is amended by eliminating confusing language and clarifying that the Connection Charge process described in Rule 24 is not modified by changes to Rule 60.

 

  1. This ordinance makes the general replacement of the following terms throughout the Rules and Regulations of the District:  Cal-Am is replaced with CAW, Dedicated Landscape Water Meter/Dedicated Landscape Meter is replaced with Dedicated Irrigation Meter, and Flagrant Occurrence is replaced with Flagrant Violation.

 

The proposed activities reflected in this ordinance are not subject to CEQA.  The activities are not a project as defined in Guideline 15378, the activities do not involve the exercise of discretionary power by MPWMD, and they will not result in a direct or reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment in accordance with Guideline 15060.

 

RECOMMENDATION:  Staff recommends the Board approve the first reading of Ordinance No. 128.  If first reading is approved, the ordinance will be presented to the Board for second reading and adoption on June 18, 2007.  As proposed, the ordinance would become effective 30 days following adoption.

 

EXHIBITS

13-A    Draft Ordinance No. 128

 

 

 

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