Title
Final Passage of Ordinance Amending Alameda Municipal Code Section 30-10 (Cannabis) to Add the North Park Street Maritime Manufacturing District (MM-NP) as a Location Where Cannabis Industry (Manufacturing) is Conditionally Permitted, as Recommended by the Planning Board. (Planning, Building and Transportation 20962710)
Body
The staff report for this ordinance was included when the ordinance was introduced and is available at the following link:
<https://alameda.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=5688902&GUID=4D2F7F41-A14F-4C1E-B73C-F53977E72258&Options=&Search=&FullText=1>
CITY OF ALAMEDA ORDINANCE NO. ________
New Series
AMENDING ALAMEDA MUNICIPAL CODE SECTION 30-10 TO ADD THE NORTH PARK STREET MARITIME MANUFACTURING (MM-NP) DISTRICT AS A LOCATION WHERE CANNABIS INDUSTRY (MANUFACTURING) IS CONDITIONALLY PERMITTED, AS RECOMMENDED BY THE PLANNING BOARD
WHEREAS, in December of 2017, the City Council adopted Alameda Municipal Code (AMC) Section 30-10 (Cannabis) which includes regulations governing the commercial cultivation, manufacturing, distribution, delivery, testing, and sale of cannabis and cannabis products; and
WHEREAS, Kiva Confections (Kiva) would like to relocate all of their manufacturing facilities from Oakland to Alameda, but until now the company has been unable to identify an adequate site that meets their operational needs and the locational limitations of Section 30-10. Kiva has identified a vacant site located at 2421 Everett Street (approximately 200 ft. west of Everett Street and the terminus of Everett Street at Blanding Avenue), which may meet their needs, but the site is located in the North Park Street Maritime Manufacturing Zoning District, which is not identified as a permissible location under Section 30-10 of the Zoning Ordinance; and
WHEREAS, on March 25, 2022, Kiva applied for a Zoning Text Amendment requesting that the City consider amending AMC Section 30-10 to conditionally permit Cannabis Industry uses in the North Park Street Maritime Manufacturing Zoning District; and
WHEREAS, on May 23, 2022, the Planning Board conducted a duly noticed public hearing and recommended City Council adoption of the proposed zoning text amendments; and
WHEREAS, this Ordinance was considered at a regular, duly noticed public hearing of the City Council on June 21, 2022, and all interested parties were provided an ample opportunity to participate in said hearing and express their view.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED by the Council of the City of Alameda that:
Section 1. Findings. In enacting this Section, the City Council finds as follows:
1. The amendments maintain the integrity of the General Plan. The proposed zoning text amendments are consistent with Alameda 2040 General Plan land use policies. Specifically, Policy LU-9 supports “developing a broad range of commercial business and services in Alameda,” and Policy LU-11 supports the increase of “on-island employment” opportunities. The proposed amendments expand employment opportunities in the MM-NP, North Park Street Maritime Manufacturing District to include Cannabis Industry. Cannabis Industry is a type of Light Industrial use that is already envisioned as a use that is permitted and regulated in the MM-NP district.
2. The amendments will support the general welfare of the community. The proposed amendments will provide discretionary review through the use permit process for the City and the community to consider Cannabis Industry uses in the MM-NP zoning district. The City and the community will have opportunities to comment on proposed Cannabis Industry uses and impose conditions that protect and enhance public health, safety, and welfare.
3. The amendments are equitable. The MM-NP district preserves lands for maritime, light industrial and larger scale commercial and office employment uses. Per AMC Section 30-2, Light Industrial is defined as operations that include “processing of any article, substance, or commodity”. The definition does not distinguish between the types of materials or ingredients used in manufacturing processes. However, AMC Section 30-10 does not currently permit Cannabis Industry in the MM-NP district, and Cannabis Industry from a land use perspective is no different than other types of Light Industrial uses allowed in the same MM-NP district. From a land use perspective, for example, there is no difference between a business that manufactures candy with cannabis ingredients and another business that makes candy but with other ingredients. By adding the MM-NP district as a zoning district where Cannabis Industry is conditionally permitted, this amendment brings consistency to the regulation of uses in the MM-NP district and ensures the same types of industrial businesses are treated equitably.
4. Adoption of the amendments is exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act. Adoption of the proposed amendments is exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act pursuant to CEQA Guidelines sections 15061(b)(3), where it can be seen with certainty that the proposed zoning text amendments will not have a significant effect on the environment, and 15183, projects consistent with a community plan, general plan or zoning, each of which provides a separate and independent basis for CEQA clearance and when viewed collectively provide an overall basis for CEQA clearance.
Section 2: Section 30-10.1.g (Permitted Locations) of the Alameda Municipal Code shall be amended to read as follows:
3. Notwithstanding Section 30-4 (District Uses and Regulations) of the Alameda Municipal Code, Cannabis Industry, to the extent permitted by the Alameda Municipal Code, may be conditionally permitted in the following zoning districts and locations:
i. C-M, Commercial Manufacturing District;
ii AP-E1, Alameda Point, Enterprise District 1, AP-E2, Alameda Point, Enterprise District 2, and AP-AR, Alameda Point, Adaptive Reuse subdistricts;
iii. Office, research and development, and light industrial zones in the Marina Village Master Plan area, and
iv. MM-NP, North Park Street Maritime Manufacturing District.
Section 3. SEVERABILITY. If any provision of this Ordinance is held by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, this invalidity shall not affect other provisions of this Ordinance that can be given effect without the invalid provision and therefore the provisions of this Ordinance are severable. The City Council declares that it would have enacted each section, subsection, paragraph, subparagraph and sentence notwithstanding the invalidity of any other section, subsection, paragraph, subparagraph or sentence.
Section 4. IMPLIED REPEAL. Any provision of the Alameda Municipal Code inconsistent with the provisions of this Ordinance, to the extent of such inconsistencies and no further, is hereby repealed or modified to the extent necessary to effect the provisions of this Ordinance.
Section 5. EFFECTIVE DATE. This Ordinance shall be in full force and effect from and after the expiration of thirty (30) days from the date of its final passage.
Section 6. AUTHORITY. This Ordinance is enacted pursuant to the City of Alameda’s general police powers, Section 1-2 of the Charter of the City of Alameda, and Article XI of the California Constitution.
_____________________________
Presiding Officer of the City Council
Attest:
____________________
Lara Weisiger, City Clerk
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I, the undersigned, hereby certify that the foregoing Ordinance was duly and regularly adopted and passed by the Council of the City of Alameda at a regular meeting assembled on this day of 5th day of July 2022 by the following vote to wit:
AYES:
NOES:
ABSENT:
ABSTENTIONS:
IN WITNESS, WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed the official seal of said City this 6th day of July 2022.
Lara Weisiger, City Clerk City of Alameda
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
________________________
Yibin Shen, City Attorney
City of Alameda