REPORT TO COUNCIL
SUBJECT
Title
Joint Study Session with Planning Commission on the Zoning Code Comprehensive Update: Uses in Single-Family Districts and Short-Term Rental Regulations
Report
BACKGROUND
The Community Development Department is preparing a comprehensive update to the City of Santa Clara Zoning Code. The City of Santa Clara's current Zoning Code has not been comprehensively updated since it first came into effect in 1969. This is the fourth in a series of study sessions to address specific items of interest for the Zoning Code update.
DISCUSSION
The study session will highlight potential areas of change within the Zoning Code Update including developing new regulations related to: 1) uses in single- family districts; and 2) short-term rental regulations.
1) Uses in Single-Family Districts
On an ongoing basis, the City receives complaints directed to the City's Code Enforcement team or through the public hearing process about existing and potential high-occupancy single-family residences. Community members indicate that their quality of life is being negatively impacted by single-family residences that house a large number of occupants and as a result lead to noise disturbances, inadequate property maintenance and insufficient on-site parking. Many of these complaints are for residences located within the Old Quad neighborhood, in proximity to Santa Clara University. In recent years the City and Santa Clara University have invested additional resources to focus on Code Enforcement and nuisance abatement for this neighborhood. Santa Clara University has also taken measures to better educate students on responsible tenant behavior and to increase the percentage of off-site housing that they own and manage. Despite these activities, the community continues to feel negative impacts from high occupancy single-family residences.
The definitions and regulations provided in the current Zoning Code thus do not appear to be effective tools to fully addre...
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