HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda Report - December 2, 2020 C-04AGENDA ITEM
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CITY OF LODI
COUNCIL COMMUNICATION
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AGENDA TITLE: Adopt a Resolution of the City Council Authorizing the Community Development
Director to Release a Request for Proposal for Technical Services Related to
Updating the City of Lodi Sphere of Influence
MEETING DATE: December 2, 2020
PREPARED BY: Community Development Director
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Adopt a resolution authorizing the Community Development
Director to release a Request for Proposals for technical services
related to updating the City of Lodi Sphere of Influence.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION: California Government Code Section 56425 establishes the
requirement for cities in the State of California to establish and
regularly update a Sphere of Influence (SOI) to provide for logical
and orderly growth. Under these regulations, each Local Agency
Formation Commission (LAFCo) is directed to update the SOI of
each city in its jurisdiction every five years.
The City of Lodi's SOI was last updated in 2007 and it is now considered out of date by SJC LAFCo.
City staff has consulted with and confirmed that SJC LAFCo will not consider annexation of lands to
the City of Lodi until the SOI has been updated and approved by SJC LAFCo.
The action of updating the SOI is considered a project under the California Environmental Quality Act
(CEQA). Staff is requesting that the City Council authorize the Community Development Director to
release a Request for Proposals (RFP) to retain a consultant to complete an environmental review of
the SOI Update and to provide technical support to this effort.
The current City of Lodi SOI includes much of the land adjacent to and outside of the existing City
boundary that might be considered for development in the next five years. Staff does not envision
expansion of the SOI to the west or to the south. There are lands east of Highway 99 and south of
Kettleman Lane that the City Council might wish to add to the SOI in order to allow employment
generating uses. Property owners in this area have expressed interest in annexation to the City and
including such lands in the SOI is the first step toward annexation and ultimate development.
In addition to amending the boundaries of the SOI, staff will suggest the City Council consider whether
the General Plan designations for lands in the current SOI should be reviewed and possibly amended.
If the City Council wishes to consider amendments to such General Plan designations, such
amendments should occur concurrently with the update of the City's SOI. Amendments to General
Plan would be considered a project under CEQA and therefore should be analyzed in any
environmental document prepared for the SOI Update.
Once the SOI has been updated, property owners would have the ability to request annexation to the
City of Lodi. Prior to the annexation process the land must be Pre -Zoned — an action that establishes
how the land will be zoned after annexation to the City. Pre -Zoning of land would be considered a
RFP to update the City of Lodi SOI
December 2, 2020
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project under CEQA and therefore any environmental review for the SOI update should also attempt
to provide CEQA analysis for the future prezoning of land in the SOI.
Once land has been annexed to the City of Lodi, the City may consider applications for development.
To the extent that future development applications are consistent with uses anticipated in the SOI
Update process and analyzed in the SOI Update environmental review, those applications might
benefit from a streamlined CEQA review. This approach expands the benefits and utility of the CEQA
document prepared for the SOI Update.
With the passage of SB 743, cities and counties in California are now required to consider the impacts
of a development project associated with Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT). Historically, traffic impacts
have been analyzed based on Level of Service — a measure of congestion on local roadways. Since
July 1, 2020, CEQA analysis is now based on VMT — a measure of total vehicle travel miles that result
from a project. Staff proposes that the consultant retained to complete the SOI Update environmental
review also consider how VMT should be analyzed for future development in the City of Lodi.
In summary, the proposed environmental review envisioned by staff would serve multiple functions for
the City of Lodi and SJC LAFCo, including:
• Provide an environmental review for LAFCo as that body considers and approves the SOI
update for the City of Lodi.
■ Provide an environmental review for the City of Lodi as it considers amending the General
Plan land use designations in the SOI area.
• Provide an environmental review for the City of Lodi as it considers Pre -Zoning of lands prior
to annexation.
Provide a programmatic level environmental review for the City of Lodi as it considers future
development applications after lands are annexed to the City.
The City has applied for and anticipates receiving funding for the SOI Update environmental review
from the State's Local Early Action Planning (LEAP) grant program. This grant will provide partial or
complete funding for the SOI Update environmental review. This action would allow City staff to solicit
bids for the SOI Update environmental review. Any future contract obligating funding to such efforts
would be presented to the City Council for consideration and no obligation of funding would be made
without City Council approval.
FISCAL IMPACT. Not applicable.
FUNDING AVAILABLE: Not applicable.
John Della Monica, Jr.
Community Development Director
RESOLUTION NO. 2020-278
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL AUTHORIZING THE
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR TO RELEASE A REQUEST FOR
PROPOSALS FOR TECHNICAL SERVICES RELATED TO UPDATING THE
CITY OF LODI SPHERE OF INFLUENCE
WHEREAS, California Government Code Section 56425 establishes that each Local
Agency Formation Commission (LAFCo) in the State of California establish and regularly update
the Sphere of Influence (SOI) for each city in its jurisdiction to provide for logical and orderly
growth; and
WHEREAS, the City of Lodi SOI was last updated and subsequently approved by the
San Joaquin County Local Agency Formation Commission (SJC LAFCo) in 2007; and
WHEREAS, the City's SOI is no longer considered current by SJC LAFCO and, as such,
SJC LAFCO will not consider requests for annexation by the City of Lodi; and
WHEREAS, the City and the owners of land in the current City of Lodi SOI may wish to
consider annexation of land and no such annexations may be considered until the City's SOI has
been updated and approved by SJC LAFCo; and
WHEREAS, the various actions associated with updating the SOI are collectively
considered a project under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA); and
WHEREAS, the process of updating the SOI and completing the required review under
CEQA requires the support of technical experts; and
WHEREAS, the City has applied for and anticipates award of grant funding through the
Local Early Action Planning (LEAP) Program that would provide funding for such technical
services; and
WHEREAS, City staff desires to release a Request for Proposals to solicit proposals from
qualified consultants to assist with completing the SOI Update process, including but not limited
to, preparing a CEQA analysis of the SOI Update.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Lodi City Council does hereby authorize
the Community Development Director to release a Request for Proposals for environmental
review and technical services related to the update of the City's Sphere of Influence.
Dated: December 2, 2020
I hereby certify that Resolution No. 2020-278 was passed and adopted by the City Council
of the City of Lodi in a regular meeting held December 2, 2020, by the following vote:
AYES: COUNCIL MEMBERS — Chandler, Nakanishi, and Mayor Kuehne
NOES: COUNCIL MEMBERS — None
ABSENT: COUNCIL MEMBERS — Mounce
ABSTAIN: COUNCIL MEMBERS — None
JENNIFERSMIR
City Clerk
2020-278