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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOUNCIL - AGENDA ITEM - 09/15/2020 - FIRST READING OF ORDINANCE NO. 116, 2020, SUSPENDI Agenda Item 9 Item # 9 Page 1 AGENDA ITEM SUMMARY September 15, 2020 City Council STAFF Rebecca Everette, Development Review Manager Paul Sizemore, Interim Director, Comm. Devt. & Neighborhood Serv. Brad Yatabe, Legal SUBJECT First Reading of Ordinance No. 116, 2020, Suspending Certain Provisions of the City's Land Use Code to Permit Temporary Use of Certain Non-Residential Buildings for Child Care Centers in Response to the COVID- 19 Pandemic. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The purpose of this item is consideration of an Ordinance exempting certain child care uses from development review and Land Use Code requirements through May 28, 2021. The COVID-19 pandemic has created a need for distributed learning and daycare sites, but the number of buildings already approved for child care in the community is too limited to meet current demands. This Ordinance would allow for child care uses to operate within buildings that have not previously been approved for such use, provided all applicable health and life safety requirements have been met. It would exempt child care centers, as defined in the Land Use Code, from the development review process for a limited timeframe, aligned to the 2020-21 academic school year, to allow for remote learning and daytime care of children. Compliance with building code, fire code, health department requirements, and state licensing would still be required, as applicable. STAFF RECOMMENDATION Staff recommends adoption of the Ordinance on First Reading. BACKGROUND / DISCUSSION PURPOSE AND NEED As a result of the COVID-19 public health emergency, local school districts have implemented virtual and hybrid learning models, all of which require students to conduct learning away from school buildings for at least part of the school week. Many parents are not able to directly care for their children or supervise virtual learning and are instead seeking child care services during standard school hours. Many families cannot afford child care within their home to facilitate remote learning, and will need support from local child care and education providers. There is growing interest in the temporary use of churches, vacant commercial spaces, neighborhood clubhouses, and other non-residential buildings to provide space (outside of schools) for education and child care. However, because child care has not been previously approved as a designated land use for many of these sites, a development review process and site improvements would be required in most instances. Site improvements that may be required include: landscaping, changes in parking lot configuration, screening of trash and recycling facilities, sidewalk repair, right-of-way or easement dedications, bicycle parking, lighting upgrades, stormwater management, and utility upgrades. Agenda Item 9 Item # 9 Page 2 Support facilities for child care and remote learning are an urgent need in Fort Collins, particularly with the school year already underway. Development review and site construction are lengthy and costly processes that do not support the rapid implementation of temporary child care sites in response to the current need. This Ordinance would allow child care and virtual learning to operate within buildings that have not previously been approved for such use. It would exempt child care operations from the development review process for a limited timeframe, aligned to the 2020-21 academic school year. Because health and life safety are still critically important to protect children and other occupants, compliance with building code, fire code, health department requirements, and state licensing would still be required. It is anticipated that the public health emergency will be resolved (e.g., as a result of a widely available vaccine) by the end of the 2020-21 academic school year. If current conditions still exist at that time, the timeframe of the Ordinance could be extended to match evolving public health conditions. PARAMETERS FOR EXEMPTION Under this temporary Ordinance, the following parameters and limits would apply for any Land Use Code (“LUC”) exemptions: • Applicable to buildings within City limits with existing approvals for the land uses listed below. • Time-limited exemption to match the 2020-21 academic school year for Poudre School District and Thompson School District (ending on May 28, 2021) • A temporary certificate of occupancy (TCO) must be issued by the City Building Services Division to ensure health and life safety requirements have been addressed. The end date of the TCO will be no later than May 28, 2021. o A building permit and needed improvements may be necessary to address building code requirements prior to occupancy. o All applicable state licensing, building code, fire code, Americans with Disabilities Act, and health and safety requirements must still be satisfied o Capacity for individual classrooms and/or the building overall will be limited based on building code, fire code, County health, and state licensing requirements. • This Ordinance would temporarily exempt childcare centers, as defined in the LUC, from the requirement to bring the site into compliance with the LUC during the time period specified by the TCO; however, these improvements may be required through subsequent development review if the use extends beyond the approved timeframe. • If a child care center desires to extend operations beyond the 2020-21 school year, the property owner or operator must initiate the applicable development review process no later than May 28, 2021. o The development review process must be diligently pursued according to the timeframes prescribed in LUC Section 2.2.11 - Step 11: Lapse. o At the completion of the development review process, if approved, the property owner or operator must complete all required site and building improvements to satisfy the requirements of the development review process in order to receive a full Certificate of Occupancy (CO). o An operator may be allowed to continue operating while they are diligently pursuing the development review process and installation of site/building improvements, at the discretion of the Community Development & Neighborhood Services Director. Child care centers would be permitted in buildings with the following designated land uses, subject to the parameters described above: Adult Day/Respite Care Center Offices, Financial Services, and Clinics Clubs and Lodges Personal & Business Service Shops Community Facilities Place of Worship/Assembly Conference/Convention Center Public/Private school Entertainment Facilities & Theatres Retail Establishment Exhibit Halls Homeless Shelters Health & Membership Clubs Day Shelters Agenda Item 9 Item # 9 Page 3 Limited Indoor Small Scale Reception Center Mixed use dwellings (non-residential portion only) Unlimited indoor recreational uses and facilities Neighborhood support and recreational facilities, including clubhouses Residential uses are not included in this exemption for the following reasons: • “Child care center” is defined by the LUC to only include operations serving “seven or more children under the age of sixteen years who are not related to the owner, operator or manager.” This does not include “family child care homes,” as defined by the State of Colorado. • In-home daycares and homeschooling “pods” generally would not fall under the definition of “child care center” and would not require development review, even without the exemption proposed by this ordinance. CITY FINANCIAL IMPACTS This Ordinance could result in a loss of revenue for the City in the form of development review fees and payments associated with development review improvements. However, staff time would not be spent on the tasks that such fees would cover, so the fiscal impact would be negligible. PUBLIC OUTREACH Staff has been meeting with child care providers and property owners to understand barriers and discuss alternative locations for virtual learning and child care during the COVID-19 pandemic. This outreach has assisted in identifying the need for LUC exemptions to support the rapid deployment of child care during the current public emergency. -1- ORDINANCE NO. 116, 2020 OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS SUSPENDING CERTAIN PROVISIONS OF THE CITY’S LAND USE CODE TO PERMIT TEMPORARY USE OF CERTAIN NON-RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS FOR CHILD CARE CENTERS IN RESPONSE TO THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC WHEREAS, the City of Fort Collins is threatened with serious injury and damage, consisting of widespread human and economic impact caused by the Novel Coronavirus 2019 (“COVID-19”); and WHEREAS, on March 13, 2020, in order to undertake emergency measures to protect the life, health, safety and property of the citizens of the City and persons conducting business therein, and to attempt to minimize the loss of human life and the preservation of property, the City Manager, as the Director of the City’s Office of Emergency Management, proclaimed a “local emergency” in accordance with Section 2-671(a)(1) of the City Code and activated the Emergency Operations Plan established pursuant to Section 2-673 of the City Code; and WHEREAS, the City Council has, with the adoption of Resolution 2020-030, extended the City Manager’s proclamation of local emergency; and WHEREAS, the State of Colorado declared its first Emergency Disaster Declaration related to COVID-19 on March 11, 2020, and the declared emergency remains in effect; and WHEREAS, due to the COVID-19 public health emergency, local school districts have implemented hybrid learning models that require students to participate in remote learning away from school buildings for some or all of the school week; and WHEREAS, many parents of students are unable to directly care for or supervise their children’s remote learning at home during the school day and cannot afford in-home child care, all of which has created an urgent need for more affordable and available chil d care centers, as such term is defined in the LUC, to provide child care and to assist with remote learning; and WHEREAS, there is community interest in the temporary use of churches, vacant commercial spaces, neighborhood clubhouses, and other non-residential buildings as child care centers; and WHEREAS, approving a child care center use under the City’s Land Use Code (“LUC”) development review procedure can be a lengthy and costly process often times requiring site improvements; and WHEREAS, in consideration of the urgent need for child care centers and remote learning supervision alternatives for families, the City Council wishes to temporarily suspend certain LUC requirements to allow buildings that have been previously approved for certain uses to be used as child care centers without following the normal development review process; and -2- WHEREAS, the temporary suspension will correspond with the 2020-2021 academic school year, after which any child care center allowed to temporarily operate pursuant to this Ordinance that desires to continue operation will need to be approved pursuant to the applicable LUC requirements and development review process; and WHEREAS, compliance with existing health and safety requirements such as the building code, fire code, health department requirements, and state licensing will continue to be required for buildings temporarily approved for child care centers pursuant to this Ordinance; and WHEREAS, in order to help address the urgent need for child care centers necessitated by the COVID-19 public health emergency, the City Council finds it is necessary for public health, safety and welfare, and in the best interests of the City and its residents, to temporarily suspend the application of certain LUC requirements to facilitate the operation of child care centers using buildings that have already been approved for certain uses. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS as follows: Section 1. That the City Council hereby makes and adopts the determinations and findings contained in the recitals set forth above. Section 2. Any building on a lot that is currently approved for any of the below uses, as such uses are defined in the LUC, is eligible for use as child care center (“Eligible Building”) regardless of whether child care center is a permitted use in the zone district where the building is located: a. adult day/respite care centers b. clubs and lodges c. community facilities d. convention and conference centers e. day shelters f. entertainment facilities and theatres g. exhibit halls h. health and membership clubs i. homeless shelters j. limited indoor recreation establishments k. non-residential portion of mixed-use dwellings l. neighborhood support/recreational facilities (including clubhouses) m. offices, financial services, and clinics n. personal and business service shops o. places of worship or assembly p. public/private schools q. retail establishments r. small scale reception centers s. unlimited indoor recreational uses and facilities -3- Section 3. An Eligible Building in which a child care center is proposed to be operated pursuant to this Ordinance is exempt from: a. LUC requirements to obtain an approved Project Development Plan and Final Plan or amendment to an existing approved development plan; b. LUC Article 3 General Development Standards; and c. LUC Article 4 zone district use restrictions on child care centers in certain zones. Section 4. To operate a child care center pursuant to this Ordinance, the owner or authorized occupant: a. Must obtain a temporary certificate of occupancy (“TCO”) from the City Building Services Division prior to operating a child care center and possess a valid TCO throughout operation of the child care center; b. May be required to obtain a building permit to address building code requirements prior to occupancy and to satisfy those requirements before issuance of the TCO for the child care center; and c. Must comply with all other applicable laws, rules, and regulations, including building and fire codes, City Code, public health orders, state licensing requirements, and the Americans with Disabilities Act prior to commencing and throughout operation of a child care center. Section 5. All other applicable provisions of the City Code and any other applicable laws, rules, and regulations, including, but not limited to health and safety requirements, will continue to apply to any child care center operating pursuant to this Ordinance. Section 6. Should a child care center operating pursuant to this Ordinance fail to comply with the terms of the TCO or applicable laws as described in Sections 4 and 5 above, the City Building Official in his or her sole discretion may revoke or temporarily suspend the TCO and the child care center shall not operate until a new TCO is issued or the suspension is lifted. Section 7. The waiver of LUC requirements pursuant to this Ordinance and any TCO issued to allow the temporary operation of a child care center pursuant to this Ordinance shall automatically terminate on May 28, 2021, and any child care center operating pursuant to this Ordinance shall cease operating unless an extension has been granted pursuant to Section 9. Section 8. Upon termination of the use of the Eligible Building as a child care center pursuant to this Ordinance, the prior approved use shall remain valid pursuant to the terms of its prior approval, the LUC, and applicable law, rules, and regulations. Use of an Eligible Building as a child care center pursuant to this Ordinance shall not be deemed abandonment of a lawful nonconforming use pursuant to LUC Division 1.5 or Existing Limited Permitted Use pursuant to -4- LUC Division 1.6, however, LUC Sections 1.5.3 and 1.6.7 regarding active utilization of nonconforming and limited permitted uses shall continue to apply. Section 9. The Director of the Community Development and Neighborhood Services Department (“Director”), in his or her sole discretion and after consultation with the Building Official may temporarily allow any child care center operating pursuant to this Ordinance to continue operating pursuant to the issued TCO provided the owner or authorized occupant has submitted a development application to the City to approve a child care center pursuant to the LUC prior to May 28, 2021, and the applicant diligently pursues seeking approval of its application and the completion of any required development improvements. In deciding whether to allow a child care center to temporarily continue operating while a development application is being reviewed, the Director may consider compliance issues and impacts on the surrounding neighborhood. The Director may, in his or her sole discretion and after consultation with the Building Official, revoke or suspend the temporary permission to continue at any time for reasons including the applicant’s failure to diligently pursue approval of its development application, failure to complete development improvements, or non-compliance with the terms of its TCO. Section 10. Operation of a child care center pursuant to this Ordinance shall not create any right or expectation that any such child care center shall be able to operate on or after May 28, 2021, and any party operating a child care center pursuant to this Ordinance is deemed to acknowledge the temporary nature of any such child care center. Introduced, considered favorably on first reading, and ordered published this 15th day of September, A.D. 2020, and to be presented for final passage on the 6th day of October, A.D. 2020. __________________________________ Mayor ATTEST: _____________________________ City Clerk Passed and adopted on final reading on this 6th day of October, A.D. 2020. __________________________________ Mayor ATTEST: _____________________________ City Clerk