The Woodland City Council passed an emergency ordinance prohibiting the processing and approval of all truck and trailer repair and overhaul services at city parking facilities. Industrial Zone.
“The city has seen a significant increase in uses that provide for the parking, long-term storage, repair and overhaul of large trucks and trailers in multiple areas,” the city staff report noted. “The city has several ongoing code enforcement cases involving illegal truck storage facilities in Zone I/LIF that have occupied sites in a manner that does not comply with current zoning code requirements. »
Council voted 4-1 to pass the emergency ordinance and directed staff to prepare necessary zoning amendments to address parking, storage and truck and trailer repair uses in the Industrial District. Fernandez was the only no.
The proposed order would take effect immediately and remain in effect for 45 days, unless extended once by 10.5 months and a second time by one year by council following a public hearing. notified.
The report noted that within the industrial zone, “parking, storage, repair and overhaul are permitted as permitted uses when not adjacent to residential areas”, with these uses generally requiring greater amounts of land without planning for site improvements, employing local workers or providing income at the point of sale.
“Uses with large numbers of trucks degrade the city’s road network but did not require investment in funding for future improvements,” the report adds. “These sites tend to be minimally improved due to low operating cost and the removal of valuable land from potential development desired as part of the overall city plan.”
City Manager Ken Hiatt explained at Tuesday’s council meeting that this issue has come to the city’s attention over the past year as it has seen an increase in inquiries from potential landlords or lessors. of vacant properties, mainly in the industrial area.
According to Hiatt, many of these landlords or lessors erected a fence around their land so that they could lease the property for truck, vehicle or product storage.
“A lot of our nearby towns in particular that have these types of uses don’t specifically allow that use on a property without a primary type of warehouse distribution operator as well,” he pointed out.
Hiatt also warned that the city has a limited number of lots for building space available with currently zero vacancies.
“Really, what we’re saying now is take a break before you have unanticipated results,” Hiatt added. “It just gives us a chance to really analyze the problem in more detail and come back to the board with a set of options or recommendations.”
Mayor Pro Tempore Victoria Fernandez asked city staff to clarify the need for a moratorium noting that it could impact an industry that provides transportation for agriculture and many items within the community.
“My father was a truck driver and I realize the value of the work he did and provided to the community,” Fernandez explained. “So when I hear there’s a problem, I don’t know where the problem is.”
Cindy Norris, senior city planner, explained that the moratorium does not apply to new or existing warehouses, logistics centers, manufacturing or other businesses that have associated truck and trailer storage.
“That really applies to situations where there would be open land where someone might have storage or parking for trucks or trailers primarily,” Norris assured.
Norris added that when someone takes a parcel of land that only needs minimal improvements, “it takes that parcel of land out of the potential for future development.”
Additionally, the report states that these facilities are often located in areas with higher tax rates but which generate little or no property tax while presenting a negative image to existing and potentially desirable businesses, “thereby harming to the overall development potential of the community”.
“Recently, the city has received interest in a larger truck parking lot (over 500 trucks) on property along the eastern edge of the city,” the report points out. “The magnitude of the number of trucks on offer would create a significant impact on the city.”
The report argues that this type of facility occupies large amounts of land that is often located in areas with higher basic tax rates.
“These uses typically have very few jobs and generate no sales tax,” the report adds. “As a result, staff is of the view that such uses do not further the City’s goals of achieving aesthetic and fiscal health or fostering economic growth in the community.”
City staff recommended that council consider a moratorium in the form of an emergency ordinance prohibiting parking facilities – including truck and trailer parking – park-and-ride lots; Shortage of recreational vehicles, boats, automobiles, trucks and trailers; and repair and overhaul facilities to locate within the City’s Industrial District until staff are able to amend the zoning ordinance to limit or prohibit such uses.
“City council may pass an emergency ordinance, which would take effect immediately and remain in effect for 45 days unless extended within those 45 days,” the report said. “The intent of such an emergency ordinance would be that it remain in effect only until City Council passes an ordinance to regulate truck parking facilities in the City of Woodland to prevent a additional supersaturation and to avoid the impacts associated with such uses.”
